Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger
by dreamcoloredgift
Summary: In the present day, an innocent child's prank inevitably caused the one of the five Tarean seals to be broken. Chosen by the soul of the Priestess of Life and bearing the powers of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians, chosen people must fulfill an ancient mission of obliterating the destructive forces of darkness once and for all before the feared ultimate annihilation of the world.
1. Background Story

Five thousand years ago, there was an organization called the Dark Shadow Defenders who gathered evil witches, alchemists, sorcerers, wizards, swordmasters, and mages from all over the world in order to bring about the destruction of Earth and make it their own planet that ran according to their rules and codes of conduct. The most powerful guardians of the world residing in a magical realm called The Hundred Heavens, the Heavenly Spirit Guardians of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light, had gathered together and summoned the chosen maiden born and blessed with the powers coming from the rare Celestial Five Lights Shower. This chosen maiden was to become the most powerful warrior of all by accepting to be a special vessel of all the five Heavenly Spirit Guardians' holy powers, combined with the Light of Hope exclusively existing in her heart, which allowed her to become what the ancients would call as the Priestess of Life.

With the help of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians, she defeated the forces of the Dark Shadow Defenders and sealed them in the darkest and deepest magical dimension of the Earth, only known as the Tareus Dimension. But upon doing so, the Heavenly Spirit Guardians didn't realize that sealing them and ensuring its security resulted to the death of the Priestess of Life. It appeared that she used the entirety of her life force to seal the enemies. Soon after, her soul, along with the remnants of her powers, traveled through space and time to make sure that the seal wasn't broken. The Heavenly Spirit Guardians concluded that their battle might not be really over as they hoped it would be. With that terrifying conclusion, they decided to send large parts of their powers to accompany the wandering soul of the Priestess of Life in completing the immense task, passing the soul and the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' powers on from one human incarnation to another.

In the present day, an innocent child's prank inevitably caused the one of the five Tarean seals to be broken. Now armed with an even more powerful evil force, the released Dark Shadow Defenders (collectively known as Tareans) decided to continue the halted plan of destroying Earth once again. But the Priestess of Life had already anticipated this moment long before her immediate death. Chosen by the soul of the Priestess of Life and bearing the mystical powers of the 5 Heavenly Spirit Guardians, 5 people must fulfill an ancient mission of obliterating the destructive forces of darkness once and for all before the feared ultimate annihilation of the world becomes a reality.

Joining forces to do the task were biker Hiwara Shuichi, photographer Mizuhashi Eichirou, composer Hoshiyama Itsuki together with his pianist sister Erika, and archer Fuumiya Misae. It wasn't long before they accepted their duties as the Seitengers. Later on, a travelling novelist named Tennouji Helen joins the team. Accompanying them in their journeys and mission are historian-cum-restaurant chef and owner Mizuhashi Hideoki (Eichirou's father), book store owner Kinmura Nanami and her son Akira (Eichirou's aunt and cousin in the second degree of consanguinity respectively), amateur photographer Tsukimori Kanako (Eichirou's childhood friend) along with her cousin Takeda Natsume and her father Tsukimori Genma, Shuichi's best friend Raisaki Amuro, Amuro's former politician father Raisaki Shotaro, Misae's _senpai_ Furukawa Nika, Misae's childhood friend and butler-in-training Kanagi Haru, Helen's writing mentor/guardian Kuraki Makoto, and Helen's editor/older sister figure Asakura Minako.


	2. List of Characters

**SEITENGERS**

 _ **This post will be updated as the story progresses.**_

Carefully chosen to wield the powers of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians, these talented youths combat the Tareans by manipulating their respective elemental powers together with the mystical energy known as Hasureiki ("Lotus Spirit Energy") using the secret arts called Reikarajutsu ("Spirit Power Technique").

 **Hiwara Shuichi / SeitenFire –** The leader and the second oldest of the group, Shuichi is known as the fastest motorbike racer. He's constantly seen as a reserved person and emits an aura that made him a hard to approach type of person to those who will meet him for the first time. But he's also known to be someone who is friendly and cares deeply to his teammates. He trusts the team more than anyone else and he was willing to do all that he could to protect them at all cost. As a young child, he was revealed to have the same level of talent in acting and film directing, which he inherited from his mother and father respectively. His directing skills was proven to be useful upon leading the Seitengers. His Hasureiki gives him the ability to know a person's thoughts and past (especially distant ones) by touch.

 **Mizuhashi Eichirou / SeitenWater –** The oldest of the group, Eichirou is known as a young pro photographer with the most childish personality behind the fame. He rarely shows anger in front of the people but he can be serious when he needed to. He tends to show his older brother attitude more to the girls. He deeply appreciates arts which he manifests in his photos—a trait he inherited from his deceased mother. Just like his father who happens to be the team's mentor, his Hasureiki allows him to create copies of his allies using water, use the different phases of water as an attack even in his civilian form and use the same element as another means to communicate.

 **Hoshiyama Itsuki / SeitenEarth –** Itsuki is the brain and the secondary leader of the group due to his incessant reading hobbies ever since he was a kid. But to the world, he is known as a young composer whose musical talent could possibly surpass that of his mother's. He is Erika's older brother. He was seen as stoic, slightly moody, and shows no interest in other things other than music and taking care of his sister as he fulfills his Seitenger duty. The Hasureiki he possess gives him a stronger connection to the earth, making the land and the trees the extension of his senses which he uses to detect disturbances and determine his comrades' location should his Shifter becomes available.

 **Fuumiya Misae / SeitenWind –** Misae is the big sister of the group famous for her archery skills. It was a talent she strived to polish since both of her parents were considered legends in the field of archery. She usually serves as a mediator between her comrades whenever they started having arguments. She was calm and collected (or at least she tries to) in times of danger even though there are times that she was actually really scared. Her Hasureiki gave her the ability to easily understand languages, especially ancient ones, even without formally learning them. She can also heal her comrades using the combination of her Hasureiki and her wind powers.

 **Hoshiyama Erika / SeitenLight –** The youngest of the core five Seitengers, Erika is Itsuki's younger sister and a pianist whose musical talent could surpass that of her father's. She is gentle, caring, and determined. Being in the constant protection of her brother, she never actually developed a sense of independence. But she later gains the courage to face her life the day she was told of her destiny as a Seitenger. Her Hasureiki allowed her to manipulate sounds which she used to deliver soundwave attacks even in her civilian form and change her voice even without the aid of a voice-changing device.

 **Raisaki Amuro / SeitenThunder –** Also a biker just like Shuichi, Amuro became the third member of the mechanic duo meant to support the Seitengers alongside Natsume and Akira. He also became a researcher aide to Kanako upon discovering his intelligence researching skills. His notable skill is his ability to speedily analyze situations during the battle that allows him to formulate counterattacks that is as deadly as that of Shuichi's fighting style. His Hasureiki allows him to pass through walls and become invisible, making him capable of working undercover for the team. He became a Seitenger by accident and due to Helen's healing powers.

 **Tennouji Helen / SeitenDream –** Helen is a traveling novelist known by the pseudonym Hanasaki Kikue who happens to be very famous for her fantasy and adventure stories aiming for teens and young adults. She is Erika's childhood friend. She became an orphan at the age of five when her parents were murdered. Her mother's uncle was the one who raised her and trained her to become a Seitenger. Because of her Hasureiki, she gains the ability to teleport various things, even herself to a designated location. She is best known to be an illusionist. She can also heal her comrades using the combination of her Hasureiki and her illusory powers.

 **Spix / SeitenSword –** A humanoid fox who could transform into his own human form but still retaining his ears and tail ever since the Heavenly Moon Spirit Guardian Lunariven lended him her powers. Spix was known for his devotion to serve and protect Helen with his life because of the promise he made to Tennouji Atsuko before she died. He is one of the revered Tri-Spirit Guardians, the personal knights of the Original Priestess of Life Irisa 5,000 years ago that has a Grand Vessel Spirit form known as the Resilient Fox of the Soul.

 **Elle / SeitenArrow** – Usually assuming the form of a elephant plush toy, Elle was given the ability by Heavenly Sun Spirit Guardian Solariven to transform herself into her own human form. But she still retained the plush elephant tail and ears in this form. More often, she became the mother/older sister figure to Helen since the girl lost her mother at a young age and also because of the promise she made to Tennouji Atsuko before she died. She is one of the revered Tri-Spirit Guardians, the personal knights of the Original Priestess of Life Irisa 5,000 years ago that has a Grand Vessel Spirit form known as the Brave Elephant of the Heart.

 **Kinmura Akira / SeitenShield** – The youngest of all the Seitengers, Akira is Eichirou's cousin in second degree of consanguinity. He is Nanami and Eisuke's only son and a part of the mechanic trio meant to support the Seitengers, alongside Natsume and Amuro.


	3. Arsenals

**ARSENALS**

 _ **Note: This post will be updated as the story progresses.**_

 **Transformation Braces Celestial Shifters** – transformation devices created by Eichirou's mother Mizuhashi Mariko using the last of her life force in order to protect the Heaven's Medallions of each of the Seitengers. This had become the brand new transformation devices of the current Seitengers. Besides being a transformation device, the Shifters can also be used as communication devices, holder of their Spirit Power Medallions (the Vessel Medallions and the Guardian Medallions) and also as a Tarean Energy and Hasureiki Energy's Detection device (which can act as a GPS device to locate the Tareans' attack location and even the Seitengers' current locations, as well). The last Celestial Shifters of the previous chosen Vessels were destroyed in a battle led by Dark Shadow Emperor Darshao's daughter Princess Adana 15 years prior to the hotel fire. When transforming into Seitengers, they say " _Spirit Power, Cross Shift!_ "

 **Heaven's Medallions** – Circular medallions with the silhouette of full-bloomed lotus flowers on top view, these are said to be the primary physical representations of the Hasureiki of the chosen Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers. These are considered to be the heart of the Seitengers' transformation devices that fully channel the powers they drew upon from the Heavenly Spirit Guardians and their predecessors. These items are the ones who give visions about who they choose to be the next Vessels. Each contains the thoughts and wills of all the previous Seitengers from the first to the recent lives of all those chosen to become the Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers. They vary in color, each representing the elemental powers that each Vessel possessed. They can be taken out by will from the Shifters and Changers of the Seitengers should they sense that the Medallions will be in danger which still allow the warriors to use their powers and access their personal weapons even in civilian form. But this can only be done as a last resort and for emergency purposes since they still need the devices to transform for them to utilize the full capacity of their respective Heavenly Spirit Guardians' powers.

 **Hyakureider –** the common primary cylindrical sidearm of the core five Seitengers with a retractable blade. One end of it was surrounded with five colored buttons (red, blue, green, yellow, and white), each with different functions. The sidearm has three modes activated by certain buttons—the retractable Broad Sword Mode that the green button activates in which they used primarily in close-ranged combat, the Cylinder Mode which is the default mode that they also use as a main control rod to pilot the Grand Vessel Spirits and the Elemental Guides, and the Laser Mode activated by the yellow button in which they fire laser beams on any of the bladeless end of the cylinder that allows them to fire laser blast, letting them attack enemies at mid- to long-range. The red button allows them to summon their Grand Vessel Spirits and casting the Heavenly Titan's finishing attack, the blue button for their personal weapons, and the white button for them to summon their Elemental Guides. The sidearm is capable of housing up to two Spirit Power Medallions to deliver a powerful attack—more commonly, the combination of a Vessel Medallion and a Guardian Medallion. With the five Seitengers together, they could perform " _Five Heaven Slash_ ".

 **Spirit Power Medallions** – Circular medallions with the silhouette of lotus-shaped (viewed from the side, showing 5 of the petals and its calyx) Hasureiki holders of the Seitengers that allow them to summon their powers coming from the Grand Vessel Spirits and the Elemental Guides. There are two types of Spirit Power Medallions and they are referred to as Vessel Medallions and Guardian Medallions. The Vessel Medallions can be used as it is upon placing it in the Hyakureider's slot or it allows them to access their personal weapons through the use of the command.

 _ ****Vessel Medallions**_

 **Heaven Lion** – This is SeitenFire's Vessel Medallion that contains the spirit of the other physical representation of the Heavenly Fire Spirit Guardian's powers, Firion, the Courageous Lion of the Raging Heavens. With this, he can perform attacks like " _Blazing Power! Heaven's Raging Fire Strike!_ ", " _Red Lightning_ ", " _Lion Laser_ ", and " _Fiery Heaven Slash_ ". SeitenFire can use its powers as it is or use a command to transform his Hyakureider into Lion Fire Blade.

 **Heaven Shark** – This is SeitenWater's Vessel Medallion that contains the spirit of the other physical representation of the Heavenly Water Spirit Guardian's powers, Sereo, the Loyal Shark of the Surging Heavens. With this, he can perform attacks like " _Outpouring Power! Heaven's Surging Water Strike_ ", " _Blue Ice_ ", " _Shark Laser_ ", " _Water Pressure Assault_ ", and " _Waving Heaven Slash_ ". SeitenWater can use its powers as it is or use a command to transform his Hyakureider into Shark Water Spear.

 **Heaven Tiger** – This is SeitenEarth's Vessel Medallion that contains the spirit of the other physical representation of the Heavenly Earth Spirit Guardian's powers, Terraiger, the Crushing Tiger of the Rumbling Heavens. With this, he can perform attacks like " _Crushing Power! Heaven's Rumbling Land Strike!_ ", " _Tiger Laser_ ", " _Green Vines_ ", " _Extreme Mountain Storm_ ", and " _Shaking Heaven Slash_ ". SeitenEarth can use its powers as it is or use a command to transform his Hyakureider into Tiger Earth Slasher.

 **Heaven Falcon** – This is SeitenWind's Vessel Medallion that contains the spirit of the other physical representation of the Heavenly Wind Spirit Guardian's powers, Skylon, the Wise Falcon of the Turbulent Heavens. With this, she can perform attacks like " _Howling Power! Heaven's Turbulent Wind Strike!_ ", " _Falcon Laser_ ", " _Yellow Cyclone_ ", and " _Tempest Heaven Slash_ ". SeitenWind can use its powers as it is or use a command to transform her Hyakureider into Falcon Wind Arrow.

 **Heaven Dove –** This is SeitenLight's Vessel Medallion that contains the spirit of the other representation of the Heavenly Light Spirit Guardian's powers, Dovight, the Gentle Dove of the Enlightened Heavens. With this, she can perform attacks like " _Shining Power! Heaven's Blinding Light Strike!_ ", " _White Shine_ ", " _Dove Laser_ ", and " _Glowing Heaven Slash_ ". SeitenLight can use its powers as it is or use a command to transform her Hyakureider into Dove Light Striker.

 **Personal weapons**

 **Lion Fire Blade** – SeitenFire's personal nodachi-like weapon. His attacks using this are " _Red Flame Burst_ ", " _Sacred Fire Helix_ ", " _Crimson Rouge Fire Annihilation_ ", and the upgraded " _Super Red Flame Burst_ "

 **Shark Water Spear** – SeitenWater's personal yari-like weapon. His attacks using this are " _Blue Water Assault_ ", " _Sacred Water Whirl_ ", and the upgraded " _Super Blue Water Assault_ "

 **Tiger Earth Slasher** – SeitenEarth's personal scissors katar-like weapon which he also uses as a medium to cast his strongest earth-related attacks. This weapon also doubles as a drill, especially when the main blade was split to reveal a third internal blade. His attacks using this are " _Green Earth Crash_ ", " _Sacred Earth Slide_ ", and the upgraded " _Super Green Earth Crash_ "

 **Falcon Wind Arrow** – SeitenWind's personal yumi-like weapon. This is the only weapon among the Seitengers that is associated with SeitenWind's real skill in her civilian form. This weapon has two modes—the Longbow Mode meant for single destructive attacks and the Bowgun Mode for accurate and fast shots. Her attacks using this are " _Yellow Wind Shot_ ", " _Sacred Wind Tempest_ ", and the upgraded " _Super Yellow Wind Shot_ "

 **Dove Light Striker** – SeitenLight's personal 3-bladed shuriken weapon. She can also extend a chain that she can use to attack enemies with it as if it is a whip. Her attacks using this are " _White Light Flash_ ", " _Sacred Light Driver_ " and the upgraded " _Super White Light Flash_ "

 **Hyakuten V-Buster** – This is the finisher weapon that Kanako created from the previous Seitengers' finisher weapon as she added the core five Seitengers' personal weapons as a basis of the design. With it, they can perform the attack " _Heavenly Spiral Force Blast_ "

 **GRAND VESSEL SPIRITS**

The Grand Vessel Spirits are the chosen primary warriors of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians residing in the Realm of the Hundred Heavens. These are the animal-like beings summoned and controlled by the Seitengers in which they can call using their Vessel Medallions in order to combat the second persona of the Triske Monster—the Triske Seed. Each of the Seitengers has their own Grand Vessel Spirit that can appear and communicate to them in spirit form using their transformation devices.

 **Red Vessel Spirit, Fire Lion Firion** – SeitenFire's Grand Vessel Spirit that happens to be the mecha form of the Courageous Lion of the Raging Heavens and can perform the attack " _Lion Blaze Crusher_ ". He forms the head and the torso of the SeitenOh.

 **Blue Vessel Spirit, Water Shark Sereo** – SeitenWater's Grand Vessel Spirit that happens to be the mecha form of the Loyal Shark of the Surging Heavens and can perform the attack " _Shark Icicle Ray_ ". He forms both the right foot and the chest plate of the SeitenOh.

 **Green Vessel Spirit, Earth Tiger Terraiger** – SeitenEarth's Grand Vessel Spirit that happens to be the mecha form of the Crushing Tiger of the Rumbling Heavens and can perform the attack " _Tiger Ground Blast_ ". He forms the left foot and the helmet of the SeitenOh.

 **Yellow Vessel Spirit, Wind Falcon Skylon** – SeitenWind's Grand Vessel Spirit that happens to be the mecha form of the Wise Falcon of the Turbulent Heavens and can perform the attack " _Falcon Dive Strike_ ". He forms the right arm of the SeitenOh, with his wings forming the Sky Sword.

 **White Vessel Spirit, Light Dove Dovight** – SeitenLight's Grand Vessel Spirit that happens to be the mecha form of the Gentle Dove of the Enlightened Heavens and can perform the attack " _Dove Crosser Thrust_ ". She forms the left arm of the SeitenOh, with her wings forming the Spirit Shield.

 **GRAND TITANS OF THE HUNDRED HEAVENS**

 **Vessel Combination SeitenOh** – The giant robot formed by the core five Seitengers using the Grand Vessel Spirits armed with two swords—the Sky Sword and the SeitenKen. It is activated by the command " _Vessel Combination, Formation Build Up!_ ". After combining, the Seitengers say " _Heavenly Warrior, Descend! Seiten-Oh!_ ". Its final attacks are the " _Sky Sword, Divine Break!_ ", " _SeitenKen, Celestial Diabolic Drive!_ ", and " _Dual Cross Spirit Slash!_ " with the SeitenKen and the Sky Sword


	4. Vessel 1 (Full Episode)

**Vessel 1: Awakening Of The New Vessels (Full Episode)**

For the past 5,000 years since the last great battle, there was a force that travelled through space and time to ensure the world's safety from an inevitable danger and destruction. The humans didn't know anything about it. Or at least, most of them didn't know.

Only a few selected individuals knew the truth about those chosen to defend the world. It was a hard task but in the end, those chosen people left the world with the knowledge that the world will continue their lives safe from harm.

But there is still the fear that a certain person's soul had carried in each of her reincarnations for the past 5,000 years. She knew right before her death that the battle will not be over with just sealing the dark force that once threatened to destroy the world. Their battle will only be over once the dark force had all been destroyed completely.

In the present times, her fear had begun to come to life.

XXXXXX

 _ **Somewhere in the mountains...**_

It was indeed a very beautiful day. Many had gone to do their ways of spending that day to the fullest. In fact, there was one elementary school that had planned a mountain trip for the students that day. From 1st grade to 6th grade, they went to that mountain. Though for each grade, they had different areas in the mountain that they must traverse.

But let's just take a look at the 1st graders' tour to the mountain.

Besides having a tour at one of the most revered mountains in the area, the 1st graders also had plans of doing tree planting activity there. Some of the kids were excited, while some where... not exactly giving a care about it. In short, there were kids who looked absolutely bored with it.

There was a boy among them who was just sitting, looking displeased and bored, on one of the big boulders there. He was just looking over his classmates doing the tree planting. But as he did so, he couldn't keep feeling something weird on the boulder he was sitting at. He stood up to have a look. The weird thing was, he saw some sort of characters vaguely etched on it.

The boy wasn't so sure but he knew it was in Kanji. And being a first grader, he wasn't exactly the smart one to be able to read Kanji at his age—especially if it was a Kanji that he could say as difficult as this one. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed. The characters were actually written in the middle of an etched lotus flower on the same boulder. All were crossed out by a big X mark and there was a hole in the intersection of the X mark. The hole was also situated in between the two Kanji characters.

"This field trip couldn't get any weirder..." the boy commented with a shake of his head. Just as he said that, his eyes caught something that somewhat looked like a glare from a glass. It came from below the boulder he was sitting at.

Well, no one could help it if it was out of curiosity. The boy crouched down and searched the ground for the source of that glare. After a few moments, he found it. To his amazement, it was a dark purple crystal—similar to that of obsidian.

When things couldn't get any weirder and boring for the boy, he decided to do something to save himself from dying of boredom.

"Kouta-kun, what are you doing?" From out of nowhere, the boy's teacher called out.

"Nothing, Sensei!" Kouta shouted back but didn't dare turn around to have a look. He was too busy etching the Kanji characters clearer and deeper that he saw on the boulder. Kouta did it as careful and exact as he could.

He couldn't tell why but Kouta felt that there was nothing wrong with doing it and something will happen if he retraced the characters to make it clear. As soon as he finished etching the Kanji characters along with the lotus flower shape, he even etched the big X mark, as well. Feeling satisfied with his own work, there was one more thing he felt was the only thing left to complete it.

But then—

"Kouta-kun!"

The boy turned around this time to see who it was. Much to his disappointment and displeasure, it was his homeroom teacher.

"What do you think you're doing? You're not supposed to vandalize anything from this forest."

"I-I just found it like this, Sensei."

"Kouta-kun!" Well, that only proved one thing. The teacher didn't believe him. Then she frowned as she eyed the item on Kouta's hand. "What is that you're holding?"

Kouta looked at what the teacher was talking about and that's when he remembered. He was still holding the crystal that he used to etch the characters and the other drawings clearly.

"Kouta-kun, put it back where you found it. RIGHT NOW!"

For his teacher to use that loud tone, meant that she's really not in a good mood right now. So instead of putting the crystal back to where he actually found it just like what his teacher wanted him to do (which was on the ground), Kouta decided to place it to where he thought it was originally placed.

Kouta inserted the crystal into the hole situated between the two Kanji characters which was also the intersection point of the big X mark.

At that point, the teacher noticed the characters etched on the boulder. She frowned at the sight of it.

"Kanji...? 'Binding Seal'?"

Kouta fully inserted the crystal into the hole.

But that's when something extremely weird started to happen. The X mark glowed bright and the Kanji characters for 'Binding Seal' looked like they had shattered from the boulder to where they were etched. The big boulder started cracking in half as the ground violently shook. The others who were on that mountain began to scream and scramble in fear.

"What's going on, Sensei?" Kouta still managed to ask despite the fear he was feeling as he was holding on to his teacher's leg.

"We'll try getting out of here. Okay?"

Kouta nodded as he and the teacher tried to get out of that place. But before they could even get further away from the area near the boulder, both of them stumbled upon tripping onto a big tree root. They were about to get up when they felt something moved from behind them. When the teacher looked back, her eyes widened in surprise and fear as the tree root which stumble them had moved and wrapped the cracking boulder.

The tree root wrapped the boulder completely and soon after, it solidified and formed an even bigger version of the boulder with the wrapped tree root impression. It looked as if the root was trying to seal the cracking boulder. Yet the struggle didn't last long. The solidified tree root cracked and shattered almost immediately. The glow from the original crack intensified before it got covered by several more magical forces of nature that made both the teacher and Kouta gawk at it. Gust of wind, stream of water, beam of light, and burst of fire—those forces accompanied the revived tree root into binding the dangerously cracking boulder. The intensifying glow from the boulder changed from bright gold to dark purplish black. It was definitely an ominous aura.

Though the two witnesses wanted to see how the events would unfold, the teacher decided to ensure the boy's safety first. They stood up from the ground and started getting away from that place.

The dangerously magical event continued on as the five forces tried to seal the dark force that was about to be released from the boulder with all its powers. But the struggle this time didn't last for too long. The dark force was too strong for the other five to contain any longer. The energy that the dark force from the boulder released resulted in a big explosion enough to create earth tremors to prevent people from even standing or sitting up.

The rage of the explosion dissipated after a few more seconds. The scene later revealed a halved boulder now covered in black soot from the recent explosion. But the most terrifying scene revealed was that the area around the boulder had black armored skeleton-like soldiers roaring and cheering like madmen. All of them held large black swords and spears that they waved around as they continued cheering.

A deep dark voice soon echoed from the hole that formed from where the boulder was originally erected. It stopped the soldiers from cheering as the voice caused the ground to shake slightly.

"Soon enough, we'll be completely freed from all of the five wretched seals, my minions. Now... it's time! Let those humans have the taste of our powers now that we're going to be fully released!" the voice roared and the cheering resumed.

Both the deep voice and the cheering loudly resonated all through the areas surrounding the mountain.

At that moment, the terror began.

XXXXXX

 _ **Same day, Tsukikage Town...**_

Everyone knew it was a clear day since the weather had definitely created a lively atmosphere for everyone. They were all doing their own stuff to enjoy the clear weather.

But unbeknownst to the five individuals residing in that town, that clear day would become the deciding moment for their seemingly peaceful lives to change for good.

Hiwara Shuichi, a young man of 23 having his black hair spiked up as he wore leather jacket and jeans, was at the top of the cliff overlooking Tsukikage Town. He could have smiled at the breathtakingly beautiful sight greeting him. But he didn't show it on his face, even though he was alone at the moment. He was currently resting from a long morning of motorcycling with a few of his friends. He was looking at the scene while leaning on his favorite motorcycle.

In fact, it was his father's gift to him when he was nine years old. But he was only given permission to ride it when he turned 18 and had his driver's license courtesy of his father's friend and current guardian. It wasn't obvious to most people but he really took really good care of that red motorcycle. It was one of the things that reminded of his family, particularly his father who died during the hotel fire 10 years ago. No one knew why or how the fire started. But Shuichi clearly knew it did a lot more damage than just burn down one of the largest hotels in Yokohama.

The fire also took so many lives that left internal scars to the survivors. He was one of the survivors who had that scar that hadn't healed from his mind—even in his heart—ever since.

"Hiwara, come on! You've been looking at that scene for an hour already. Let's head back!"

That voice from one of his bike friends brought Shuichi out of his reverie. A sigh escaped his lips and wore his helmet. Upon securing it on his head, Shuichi hopped on to his motorcycle and fled the place, with his friends trailing behind.

"Hey, Shuichi! Wait up!"

A chuckle bubbled up from his throat and looked behind him.

"Race you back to the town!" Shuichi dared and accelerated the speed of his motorcycle driving.

Surprised and disbelieving with the sudden declaration, the rest of Shuichi's friend accelerated their motorcycle's speed and tried their best to catch up with the man. But they knew it would be a futile effort since they knew that no one had ever defeated Hiwara Shuichi in terms of motorcycle racing at all.

After all, Shuichi was known as the fastest racer in town.

XXXXXX

Back to the town, another young man (but two years older than Shuichi) with russet-colored layered hair who actually looked younger than his age was busy tinkering his DSLR camera as he sat on one of the park's benches. It looked like he wasn't aware of his surroundings at all. But it was only for a few moments. After he was done tinkering his beloved device, a wide triumphant smile became visible on his face.

"You really love your camera so much for you to even forget your breakfast, idiot? I'm not even your nanny, Eichirou! Get up there before I decide to throw your bentou to your face!"

A familiar girl's voice snapped Mizuhashi Eichirou from his thoughts on his camera that faded his smile for a short moment. When he saw that the girl beginning to fume in anger in front of him was his childhood friend having chocolate-colored long wavy hair that she always put up in a ponytail Tsukimori Kanako, that wide—yet childish—smile appeared on his face this time.

"Kana-chan! That was fast. I thought I wouldn't have my early lunch anymore." And there he goes again, tinkering his camera.

Kanako puffed her cheeks in frustration and annoyance to this camera-freak childhood friend of hers. Seriously, all this guy could ever think of was his camera and food to eat. But her frustration and annoyance gradually faded when she saw Eichirou's genuinely happy expression on his face as he continued looking at the pictures he took during the whole morning.

But Kanako didn't know something about Eichirou's pictures.

Eichirou knew that Kanako would go and have her own picture-taking at the park that day. He insisted on coming along using the reason that he also need pictures for his current project—a photo mosaic with a theme of tranquility. But for the whole morning, all he did was to take pictures of the girl he accompanied—albeit he did so in secret.

Weird... but for some reason, the word "tranquility" for him reflected Kanako taking pictures without a care in the world. But he didn't give a care for that weird feeling he had. All he knew, he had taken enough pictures for one day.

Now it was time for Eichirou to enjoy his beloved early lunch. Doing so, however, started to prove itself hard as Kanako wasn't giving it to him. He pouted at that.

"Mou... Kana-chan's mean! I want my lunch!" he whined. Seriously, there were times he really acted like a child naturally.

"After you take it from me. Put some effort in taking it from me or else I'll let you die in hunger."

Geez! Kanako didn't have to be mean to him. But if that was what Kanako wanted, then so be it! He'd take his lunch from her whether she liked it or not.

And so the chase was on for those two.

XXXXXX

On the other hand, an even younger man (just two years younger than Shuichi) having short but thick black hair and skinny body built—which was also obvious on his features—was sitting on a big boulder near the town's famous lake. This lake, however, was located just below the cliff where Hiwara Shuichi was standing at. The teenage boy was armed with his trusty guitar, notebook, and a pen. And what else was there to do with those things?

That's right. Hoshiyama Itsuki—despite the stoic look laced with disinterest he always show to people—was one of the upcoming stars in musical composition. Well, many people said that he took after his mother who was one of the best composers in her times. And up to now, he wanted to live up to it. After all, it was one of the few ways to remind him of his dead parents who were both raised with music around them and had actually made them famous even now that they weren't residing in the world of living anymore.

The composition that he was currently working on was another that bothered him a lot of times. The lake he was looking at was actually one of the places where he could see a mysterious girl calling for help. Well, he only saw her in dreams. And in those dreams, his sister Erika was there as well, assuring the mysterious girl that everything was going to be okay. Weird enough, Itsuki could feel that his sister had actually spoken those words to someone before. But he just couldn't tell when and where.

The continuous ringing of his phone snapped him out of his trance. He took the phone out of his pocket and immediately opened it as soon as he saw the name of the person calling now on the screen.

"Hello? Is there something wrong, Erika?" he started, with slight hints of worry on his tone. He was always a worrywart for his sister, anyway.

"No. I'm just calling to say that I'll be practicing at the conservatory instead of the music hall."

Itsuki frowned. "What made you decide to practice there?"

Erika's groan was heard on the other line. "Construction noise. I forgot that they're going to extend the Kawazumi Hall's east wing starting today. The conservatory is the only area right now where the construction noise won't distract my concentration."

Itsuki sighed. Well, Erika does have a point there. "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'll just finish my composition here for a while before I pick you up. Hideoki-san wouldn't want us to be late for dinner or else, we're both dead."

"Well, you're the one who's always coming home late. Not me. I'm not the one who gets scolded most of the time."

Geez! Does she really have to bring that up again? "Shut up! I'll pick you up so don't go anywhere else, okay?"

"You're one insisting brat, Onii-chan. Bye!" And the line went dead.

Itsuki could only sigh as that action before putting his cellphone back in his pocket and continued on with his song writing. But his hand was somewhat stuck in one position. His mind was travelling somewhere else again.

 _"If I'm going to be reborn, I only ask for one thing. I want to be with you again in my next life..."_

Itsuki felt that those words were actually spoken to him and it was the mysterious girl in his dream who had said that. He knew full well that it was a promise spoken by a girl who was actually determined and hopeful to be with the one she loves in each of her next lives if she were to be born again.

But if those words were really spoken as such, how come he could sense something strange from it? How come he could feel like something important will be taken from him if he decided to know more about those dreams?

Right now, Itsuki chose not to let those wordsbother him. And so he focused on his song writing business for now.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the other side of the town, a petite girl with waist-length brown hair wearing hakama and armed with a longbow and quiver of arrows was walking towards the practice area. Her focus leaned on towards her training for the upcoming archery competition that was about to happen two weeks from now. And for Fuumiya Misae, failure was not an option. After all, she had been undefeated in that field for 5 years in a row. Defending her title for one more year would make her a legend in the town. In other words, a Hall of Famer.

Archery, both western and eastern archery, had been a part of Misae's life for as long as she could remember. It was one of the things that reminded her of her parents who both died in the hotel fire 10 years ago. After all, they were the ones who taught her a lot about archery since it was their proficiency, though her father leaned more on horseback archery. Coming from a family of legendary archers in the country was something that Misae wanted to continue living up until the end.

Okay... That's enough reminiscing the past for now.

What she had to focus on at the moment was her training. Well, she had been doing that all morning ever since she asked permission from her guardian early in the morning. But practicing alone in the afternoon was actually the one Misae looked forward to. That way, she could concentrate more and she could actually do more to make sure her shots during the tournament would be precise and her control wouldn't be a problem. It was something she was famous with, after all.

Upon setting up her garments and materials, especially her bow and arrow in place, Misae's gaze towards the target board hardened and was calculating. She positioned to her stance and started pulling the string of the bow with an arrow in place. A few calculating moments later, she released the arrow and watched it carefully. A triumphant smile showed on her face when the arrow she launched hit the center. Bull-eye!

She gave herself a satisfying nod and did target shooting for a few more times. Almost all of her shots hit the same place—the center of the target board. Upon realizing that she used up almost all her arrows for that practice, she decided to proceed to the target area to retrieve all of it. But the sounds of someone actually clapping alerted her senses and made her pull the last arrow from the quiver.

"Woah! Before you decide to hit me with that, make sure I have my safety vest to protect me from it."

Misae seemingly froze to her spot for a few moments before exhaling a sigh of relief that it wasn't actually an enemy, but her childhood friend.

"Shuichi, next time you decide to surprise me like that, I'll make sure you'll end up with more than one arrow poking out of your body," she warned with a narrowed stare at her biker friend.

Yes, the one who was in front of her was Hiwara Shuichi.

"How long have you been standing there, anyway? Were you watching me practice?"

Shuichi nodded. "Since you started practicing here alone. I had to make sure you go home before dinner or Hideoki-san will kill us. I can't ask that favor to Eichirou since he was busy arguing with Kanako-chan over his lunch."

Misae couldn't help sighing and shaking her head over his other friend's childish acts again. "Eichirou-san's really hopeless over as simple as food. No one could actually tell he's a renowned photographer in town whenever he acts like that."

"We can't do anything about it. He's already like that." Shuichi's face became serious. "What time are you heading home, anyway?"

Misae faced the target area where her other arrows landed. "One more round and then I'm done."

It was the approval Shuichi needed before he placed himself somewhere he could still see Misae's practice and not disturbing her. He knew full well how Misae valued archery in her life, the same way he valued bike racing in his life.

True to her words, Misae wrapped up her practice after one more round of target shooting. Of course, she left the place with a satisfied look on her face. Now she knew she was ready for the competition, although she couldn't let her guard down just yet. A lot of things could still happen that might cause her to lose concentration.

Shuichi's favorite red bike was waiting for them as Shuichi handed Misae his other helmet. No one quite knew but Misae was the only girl so far that had rode Shuichi's motorcycle and Misae was really proud of that fact, even though she doesn't actually show it.

With smiles on their faces, Misae and Shuichi rode the motorcycle to head home before their guardian chew them on for being late.

XXXXXX

At the Tsukikage Town's Music Conservatory, a teenage girl wearing white summer dress over a light blue cardigan with her black hair which length only reach three inches below her shoulder was busy practicing her chosen musical piece on one of the grand pianos there. She chose to practice using the grand piano on the stadium. Only a few people were given permission to use that piano for practicing. Hoshiyama Erika was among them, but she was given permission for one special reason.

That grand piano once belonged to her father who was a famous pianist in their town. His talent in piano was so impressive that it actually earned him several more performances throughout the country. It would have lived on for a long time if his father didn't die along with her mother in the hotel fire 10 years ago. She and her older brother Itsuki were some of the few survivors of that tragedy.

It had been 10 years, and right now, she was quite happy with her life even though her parents were dead. Her parents' friend was their current guardian who raised her and Itsuki like his own children.

Erika continued practicing without a care in the world since she needed to do her best for the upcoming piano recital she was going to participate into a month from now. It would also provide her access to study in one of the prestigious music schools in Japan if she did her best and impressed the sponsors. But since she was still having a hard time to decide on whether or not she would actually leave Tsukikage Town for her dream, she would just play the piano to her heart's content.

She was almost done playing the piece when she suddenly heard footsteps coming from the backstage. Of course, she got startled with that which made her almost immediately stop playing the piano. She was about to leave the stadium and get her things when a familiar voice spoke.

"Geez! It's just me, Erika. You don't have to be that scared."

Erika exhaled sharply when she heard her brother Itsuki's voice. "Urgh! Do you seriously have to scare me like that, Onii-chan?"

But the answer she got from his was a noncommittal shrug and approached her. Itsuki wordlessly took her bag and started walking away from there. He stopped to his tracks for a short while before turning to face her.

"Come on. We need to head home fast. I don't want Hideoki-san to scold us when we get there late."

"Is that all you have to say? Shouldn't you be saying something to me about your composition?"

No words came out of Itsuki's mouth after Erika asked those questions. At that point, he really didn't want to talk about it.

"I'll show it you when we get home. I'm done composing it, anyway. You can even try playing it, if you want."

Erika's face brightened at his words. "Really? I get to play your latest composition?"

Itsuki nodded. This time, with a smile on his face. He rarely smiled in front of everyone but not to Erika. After all, she was one of his reasons to smile.

With those words, Erika followed her brother and clung to his arm. She always does that whenever they go home together. It was a habit ever since the fire that took their parents' lives 10 years ago. And it was always a gesture that calmed them both, that gave them strength.

"I wonder what Hideoki-san would make for dinner. I realized that I didn't even have lunch a while back," Erika suddenly blurted out.

Itsuki frowned. "You didn't eat your bentou?"

"No. I gave it to the old man selling scraps on the way while I was heading here. It's better he ate it since he was working very hard."

Itsuki couldn't comment anymore about it. He knew Erika was like this, always thinking of others more than her. He could only smile at it.

"Well, I'll just give you a big portion later before Eichirou-san gets all of it to fill his bottomless stomach."

The siblings laughed at it before Erika let out an agreeing sound and nodded.

XXXXXX

 _ **Taiyou Family Restaurant, 6:03 PM...**_

The restaurant was already closed at around 6:00 PM, but only on that particular Wednesday since that was the day that Mizuhashi Hideoki would do a certain ritual. But it was a secret ritual that only his cousin knew.

Before he decided to do the ritual, he was in his own working station to prepare the ingredients needed by the next day. As he did so, he was also watching the 6:00 night news. But a certain headline caught his attention. He wasn't too sure about it, though.

Hideoki stopped slicing the vegetables and increased the volume of the TV for him to be able to hear the news clearly.

 _"This afternoon, at 1:30, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 struck the area near Mt. Kumamoto, killing 312 people..."_

But Hideoki wasn't busy concentrating on the report but on the series of footages overlooking the damage of the aforementioned earthquake. Not only did the scattered bodies of the victims shock him, but also the other damages around the scene. What put him in a state of disbelief was the fact that the damage was something the earthquake didn't do.

"This can't be..." were the only words Hideoki could ever utter in shock.

But despite being in shock, he clearly knew one thing.

The victims... moreover, the children... They didn't die because of the earthquake. Whatever caused the earthquake to happen became the catalyst for their perpetrators to kill them.

It was the terrifying truth which lies in it that Hideoki had been afraid of ever since.

He felt weakened at the truth flashing in his mind with regards to the news. He collapsed to his knees as he kept shaking his head.

"Don't tell me... It's time already? Mariko... don't tell me you knew this would happen?"

XXXXXX

 _ **Hoshizora Bookstore, same time...**_

The owner Kinmura Nanami, cousin of Mizuhashi Hideoki, was busy putting newly-arrived books to their designated shelves. She had already closed her store so she wasn't worried about incoming customers—most of them were either bookworms or just people who wanted to read a few books to pass the time. As she did so, she was watching the news on TV.

But the currently airing news headline about a field trip that went bad caused Nanami to unconsciously drop the other books she was holding. Her eyes were wide open as she watched the news in shock. She proceeded to increase the volume of her TV to hear it even clearer. It was for her to know that it wasn't a dream or maybe even a nightmare at all.

 _312 people, including elementary students, die in a field trip mishap. Cause of 8.7 magnitude earthquake, still undetermined._

It was that byline that made Nanami knew something was weird. What supported her theory was the series of footages with regards to the disastrous event. Being the one familiar with different types of wounds, the sight of the injuries of the victims made her know what exactly killed those teachers and students in that mountain.

"Someone... broke one of the seals?" Nanami managed to utter before continuing to watch the news about the disastrous field trip. After watching related to that, she went to a cabinet on the counter and took a decorated chest box from there.

Nanami carefully looked at the crest engraved on the top of the chest box. It was a fully bloomed lotus flower with its five visible petals having five different colors, starting from red, blue, green, yellow, and white.

"Mariko... if that time had come already, I want you and the others to guide them all the way. Don't let them suffer even more than they all had been for the past 10 years since that fire..." she whispered as she touched the chest box as careful as she could.

With a distraught expression that gradually changed into a determined one, she decided to finish what she had to do first before heading to her cousin's house.

XXXXXX

Well, if one could describe disaster, the death of almost 400 people and counting in one day would have been one of the best pictures for it. Too many bodies scattered everywhere around the mountain area. Rescuers, police, even nearby villagers were doing their best to find at least a few survivors in that area.

But there was no such luck.

The police did state to the reporters that the earthquake killed the students, along with their teachers. But they purposely left out one important piece of information and decided not to mention it to the media at all.

Many of the victims actually died not because of the earthquake. Their perpetrator wasn't the nature's wrath but a ruthless murderer wielding bladed weapons sharp enough to slice their bodies open, killing them instantly. What was even weirder was the scorched boulder near the scene where they found two more bodies—one belonged to a boy (Kouta) and a teacher.

Even normal humans could feel that something ominous was lurking around the area.

If only they knew, that ominous feeling would soon spread out to continue an ancient agenda—one that threatens to destroy everything...

XXXXXX

 _ **Mizuhashi Mansion...**_

Things couldn't get any weirder.

Before finding out one by one that Hideoki wasn't in his working station of the Taiyou Sweets and Pastry Shop or in the kitchen of the mansion, Shuichi, Eichirou, Itsuki, Misae, and Erika had actually found themselves arriving at the house's gate almost at the same time.

"This has never happened before... AT ALL!" Eichirou stated with a laugh.

Shuichi nodded. "I agree."

"Well, maybe because we're all hungry," Misae said.

"...or we're just afraid of getting scolded by Hideoki-san if we come home late for dinner," Itsuki added placidly.

Erika sighed. "And we'll be scolded even more if we stay here any longer. We have to find Hideoki-san first since he wasn't at the restaurant."

"That rarely even happens," Misae commented.

But Eichirou immediately stopped to his tracks that the others noticed.

"What's wrong, Eichirou-san? Did you forget something?" Erika asked.

Eichirou shook his head. "Nothing. I just remembered that today is actually important to us. Especially for Dad..."

The other four exchanged glances at each other. At that point, it all hit them.

"Mariko-san's death anniversary..." Shuichi muttered.

"...which makes tomorrow a especially sad day for the four of us, as well," Itsuki stated. "After all..."

"...it will be our parents' death anniversary," Misae finished.

"Well, before we all become gloomy around here, let's just do something about dinner. I guess Dad left without even cooking dinner for the five of us," Eichirou said, breaking the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them.

Agreeing to that, the rest entered the house to follow Eichirou.

For the past 10 years since the hotel fire that took their parents' lives, the Mizuhashi mansion had been the house that Shuichi, Misae, Itsuki, and Erika resided and where they had grew up. They grew up together like siblings, and Eichirou treated them as such. Among the group, only Eichirou wasn't the person whom one would call a total orphan. He still had his father who, in turn, had become the other four's guardian. Hideoki saved them from the fire and raised them all these years. But Eichirou's mother Mizuhashi Mariko died of a terminal illness 2 years prior to the hotel fire.

In a way, Eichirou knew what it was like to lose someone important in life. He was a Mama's boy, after all.

The five of them were surprised to see dinner actually served and ready to be eaten on the dining table.

"I guess Dad didn't forget our stomachs, after all," Eichirou commented.

"You're the only one who thinks like that, Eichirou-san," Itsuki retorted which earned him a pout and a slight glare from Eichirou.

"Mou! Itsu-chan's mean to me again!"

Misae and Shuichi just smiled while Erika giggled.

"Then stop acting like a baby if you want Itsuki-kun to treat you nicely," Misae said as she began to help the others serve the dinner.

When the five of them already sat to their designated seats, Shuichi looked around one more time. "I hope Hideoki-san wouldn't mind if we eat dinner without him."

"We'll just ask forgiveness if he did get angry about that," Erika said.

"Itadakimasu!"

And the dinner started without Hideoki who usually sit on a chair designated for the head of the household. It felt weird, that the other family jester wasn't having dinner with them. Now, it actually felt sort of incomplete without Hideoki.

"I wonder what happened. Dad doesn't usually forget to have dinner with all of us, even during Mom's death anniversary," Eichirou started in the middle of their dinner.

"That's not the only weird thing that happened today," Misae said as she was done munching her food. "Did you guys see the news? The one about the earthquake at Mt. Kumamoto."

"You guys saw it, too? It was a total disaster," Eichirou commented as he resumed eating his food. This time, he put a spoonful of it right in his mouth.

"But if it was in Mt. Kumamoto, shouldn't we have felt it, too? I mean, we're only a few kilometers away from the site," Erika stated.

"Something's really off about it," Shuichi added.

"About what?" Misae asked. "The earthquake? It's a natural disaster. Mother Nature can be extremely surprising sometimes."

"Not the earthquakes. The deaths," Itsuki answered nonchalantly while busy slicing the meat on his plate.

"I only saw a few about the bodies lying in the mountain where the field trip took place. But Itsuki's right. The earthquake isn't the one considered weird. It's how the victims died," Shuichi added.

Erika shrugged. "The earthquake is still considered weird to me, Shuichi-san. I mean, they couldn't actually locate the epicenter of the quake even after using all of their instruments to determine that."

"What could've caused it, I wonder?" Misae mumbled.

XXXXXX

 _ **Tareus Dimension...**_

Eternal darkness filled with ominous aura... This was probably one of the most concrete descriptions for this place. In the center of that dark evil dimension lies a large mass used as a platform by the crystalline fortress the floated there.

It was a fortress called the Fortress of Dark Screams.

For the past 5,000 years since the dimension was last opened, it had been the realm where the dark force that once threatened the world's safety was sealed. But revenge could be a very powerful drive for those who were determined to destroy the very world they once wanted to conquer.

A child's curiosity rendered one of the ancient warrior's seals to be broken.

"Foolish humans... Who would've thought that a boy's curiosity will break one of the five seals that the wretched Priestess of Life and her retainers had cast upon our kind?" the Dark Shadow Emperor Darshao muttered with a maniacal laugh. He was sitting on his throne inside the top tower of the Tareus Castle inside the Fortress of Dark Screams, ever proud of his demonic-looking subjects as he eyed them all with a smile—or maybe it was more of... a smirk?

"I guess she's not really as powerful as we all thought she was," one of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, the revered deadliest Assassin Alvre, stated.

"She is powerful, Alvre. We wouldn't have been sealed for the past 5,000 years if she wasn't," the Wise Orcus, another of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, said.

"But now, one of the seals was broken. We wouldn't have to worry about her appearing before us to stop our plan of rising to the surface and destroy the Earth for good," Nemia, the Shinobi and a part of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, responded.

The rest of the Defenders faced Emperor Darshao and bowed.

"What is your plan, Your Majesty?"

No words came out of the leader's mouth... at least for a while.

"We need to make sure that no one will ever stop us from destroying this world that she protected."

"That's already possible, Your Majesty," Commander of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders Karkino said. "The Priestess of Life was already dead. She died right after sealing us 5,000 years ago. No one will be able to stop us from implementing our plan."

"Do you really know the Priestess' ability that much, Karkino?" Orcus interjected. "Her body might have been gone but her powers weren't."

Karkino growled. "Just do your own business, Orcus! Stay with your precious scrolls and rot with them." After that, he stormed out of the Throne Room.

"Tsk! Karkino... He's ever the short-tempered," Nemia commented before facing Orcus with a calculating stare. "Are you sure about what you said earlier, Orcus?"

"Orcus had never been wrong, Nemia," the most aggressive Defender, General Siriso, stated. "Five thousand years of stealing the scrolls using the small gaps from the 5 seals and studying all of those related to the Priestess of Life provided him the knowledge we need to continue our plan."

"Hmm... It seems to me you have your own plan, General," Alvre said with a knowing evil smile.

Her words caught Emperor Darshao's attention. "Is that true, Siriso?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Siriso replied with a bow. "I'll do the initial plan to ensure that no one will try and be reckless to defy us and our powers. If there are such beings, I'll immediately proceed with the plan to destroy them forever."

Darshao nodded, seemingly agreeing with the General's plan.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" And with that, Siriso vanished.

Darshao's grip to the hilt of his sword tightened as he recalled the humiliation he received from the wretched Priestess 5,000 years ago.

 _Everything you've protected all this time, Priestess... I'll make sure to let you see the destructive end of it!_

A growl of frustration and determination resonated throughout the entire Tareus Castle, causing the ground where the fortress stood to tremble badly.

XXXXXX

Back to the Mizuhashi household, it wasn't true that the head of the family—Mizuhashi Hideoki—left the five children in the house all by themselves. The truth was, he was staying in the family room—located outside the mansion separate from it—the entire time after watching the news.

He was sure his cousin Nanami watched it, as well. It wouldn't take him a second to know that both of them had concluded one thing upon realizing the truth behind that horrific incident. The cause of the earthquake wasn't something natural. The damage alone proved it.

At that moment, though, it worried him to no end. Hideoki had to do what was right. It was his wife's last wish to him before she died, after all.

 _"Hideoki, you don't have to worry about me. Just concentrate on what we had vowed to protect. I made everything ready for those kids. All you have to do is raise them to become the warriors that they're destined to be. When the right time comes, they'll know the truth about their duties. I'll do my best to guide them to the right direction. Please... protect them for me... Protect our son... and the others. I'm begging you, Hideoki..."_

It was his wife's pleading words that he last heard from her before she left him and their son Eichirou. But it was those words that propelled him to do what she had asked him to. Those words became the premonition of a duty he had to fulfill not just for his wife, but also for the people who still believed that they couldn't stop those children's destiny.

In fact, two years after Mariko's death, Hideoki learned that his wife had predicted a "disastrous enemy that will engulf the fate of the world in an inferno" as she had put it. That "disastrous enemy" was the hotel fire where he rescued Shuichi, Isae, and the Hoshiyama siblings...

And to think all of those events happened in that predicted hotel fire 10 years ago...

While watching Hideoki as his eyes were closed, Nanami couldn't help feeling worried. Ever since her husband died in that fire, she knew that the danger they were all bound to face was about to come. Just as how Hideoki did everything he could to protect Mariko's wishes, Nanami was also the same. She would do all that she could to help Hideoki protect Mariko and Eisuke's final wishes for those five kids.

But she never realized that the moment they all had feared to arrive would come this soon.

"Hideoki."

The said person opened his eyes and faced Nanami with an unusually solemn look on his face.

"Is this really the right time for them to know the truth?" Nanami queried worriedly.

Hideoki didn't say anything as he looked at the chest box that Nanami brought with her upon going to the dojo. A sigh from him followed.

"There was never a right or wrong time to do what was needed. But all we can do is open a path for them to take. The rest of the journey is up to them whether they accept it or not."

Nanami's hands on her lap clenched to a fist as she looked at the chest box as well. _So it's still up to them, huh?_

XXXXXX

"Ah!" Eichirou exclaimed with a gleeful and satisfied smile on his face as he leaned on the backrest of the chair and rubbed his tummy. "I'm full! Dad really makes the most delicious meals ever!"

Itsuki rolled his eyes and started helping Isae cleaning the table. "Everything's delicious for you, Eichirou-san, whether it was Hideoki-san's cooking or just plain street food."

"Why do you have to be mean to me all the time, Itsu-chan?"

Itsuki twiched at the sound of Eichirou's nickname to him. "As far as I know, being honest is completely different from being mean."

"Well, you're acting mean," Eichirou retorted.

"Seriously, you're going to start this again? Put it on hold for now and continue that tomorrow—" Misae said but Erika soon cut it off.

"—and do it outside the house, please?"

"Do it AFTER we visit our parents' graves. Give us a break from your arguments, okay?" Shuichi added as he started helping, as well.

Eichirou was about to say something when they heard the bell clank coming from the back door. He frowned.

"Wait a minute... I thought Dad was out."

They all exchanged glances to each other.

"Did anyone check the family room?" Shuichi asked.

The rest shook their heads.

"I didn't even think Hideoki-san would stay there, especially on this particular day," Erika answered.

"Is it me or everything that has happened today keeps on getting weirder and weirder?" Itsuki added. "The earthquake, the five of us arriving at the same time, Hideoki-san going missing..."

"Maybe it was just a coincidence," Misae speculated but her voice proved otherwise. "Besides, what could possibly happen on this particular day to us and even to Hideoki-san?"

That is, until Erika decided to do something. "I'll go check whoever entered through the back door." She left the table mop to Itsuki and proceeded to the back door.

But even before Erika could fully leave the kitchen, she stopped to her tracks and frowned at the sight of the person who had come from the back door. "Nanami-san, don't scare us like that."

Nanami smiled at the girl's words but Erika noticed that it didn't actually reach the woman's eyes.

 _Weird. Her smile isn't like this whenever she comes here and greets us. Did something happen?_

"Auntie!" Eichirou exclaimed and frowned soon after. "What made you come here?"

Instead of answering Eichirou's question, Nanami looked around and saw that the five kids were already done eating their dinner. "I see you're done eating." She faced the five kids. "Hideoki wants all of you to go to the family room."

After that, Nanami left them all frowning in confusion. Things sure had gotten a lot weirder than ever.

The five of them looked at each other to get answers... perhaps. But what could they possibly be? They were all clueless about all this.

"Let's just hope we're not in trouble or hell in this house will surely break lose if we made Hideoki-san angry," Itsuki said that broke the silence.

The rest just nodded. If there was one thing they never wanted to face, it was Hideoki's wrath when mad. In trouble or not, it was for the best that they face the head of the Mizuhashi household.

XXXXXX

But upon entering the family room, the five couldn't help feeling something weird about the atmosphere inside. It was actually somewhere between tensed and overly scary—for the lack of a better word.

What could have possibly made this kind of atmosphere?

"Mou! Dad, you should've told us you're here all along," Eichirou was the first to talk that gradually lessened the tension.

But Hideoki didn't falter. He was still looking at the youngsters with serious expression that even Eichirou considered being totally weird.

"Dad... Are we in trouble?"

"Wow! He really asked that to the point," Itsuki commented.

"Onii-chan!" Erika hissed. Itsuki did shut up.

Hideoki sighed. "Just take a seat and I'll tell you the reason soon."

The youngsters obliged to that and sat on the cushions laid in front of Hideoki and Nanami.

"This is going to take a while so I want you to listen. And please, you must listen to me carefully," Hideoki said with hints of plea in his voice.

The rest, though completely confused towards Hideoki's actions, just nodded to assure the man. This was a completely different Hideoki for the five of them and to be honest, this was the first time they saw him like this.

"I don't know if you're really aware of the truth but I believe I told you that I was your parents' friend. But I guess it's time for me to tell you the real reason why your parents died that night 10 years ago. And it's time for me to tell you the truth why Eisuke and I had desperately save the four of you from that fire," Hideoki started.

Of course, it surprised Shuichi, Misae, Itsuki, and Erika upon hearing that. Eichirou only eyed his father in confusion. If that was the case, then he must have nothing to do with the issue since he wasn't at the hotel fire that night.

"You're still involved in the issue, Eichirou, if you're thinking of leaving—" Nanami paused. "—since it was your mother who predicted the deaths of your friends from that fire."

Eichirou froze at those words. His mother? "Auntie... What do you mean she predicted their deaths?"

Hideoki heaved a sigh before he started talking. "Mariko's last wish to me was to save Shuichi, Misae, Itsuki, and Erika from dying in that fire. It was supposed to be the fire that will end everything that those who knew the truth had fought for in the last 5,000 years. Those people include us and your parents."

"Mariko predicted the deaths of this world's last hope to defeat the enemy that will destroy us if we don't do something to stop it," Nanami added.

"Hideoki-san, I don't really understand what you mean," Misae remarked.

"You're telling that our parents died for us to continue... whatever they were fighting for?" Shuichi queried in confusion.

"You're talking as if we're some world savior here," Itsuki said in slight disbelief.

But the others couldn't see even the slightest hint of joke from Hideoki's words. They couldn't tell if he was starting to go crazy or what.

"Vessels..." Erika suddenly muttered that caught everyone's attention. "Could it be that... you're talking about the Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers?"

"You know about it, Erika-chan?" Nanami inquired. Erika hesitantly nodded. "But how?"

"It's actually... from a dream..."

Hideoki frowned. "What do you mean a dream?"

"A woman... spoke to me in my dream... about the fate of the world if we died. She looked a lot like..." Erika trailed off.

"A lot like who?" Itsuki asked even though he couldn't help feeling frustrated that his sister never mentioned anything about that to him at all.

Erika looked around as if she was trying to remember something by looking for something from her surroundings. It was like that for a few moments until her eyes widened at the sight of a portrait that she had only seen at the moment.

"Like her!" Erika exclaimed as she pointed at the portrait of a regal woman wearing an elegant celestial robe. It was painted in a scroll that was hanging above Mariko's framed picture.

The others looked at the portrait. Confusion filled the four youths, but extreme surprise appeared on both Hideoki and Nanami's faces upon seeing that.

"It can't be..."

XXXXXX

As the discussion was going on, they had no idea that a sinister plan was about to be put into action in continuation to the terror that was released during the devastating mountain incident.

"Daytime... that should be the perfect spotlight for me to do what I have to do," Siriso mumbled as he stood on the rooftop of the tallest building of the area.

He was eyeing the peaceful town with a grin.

"Juman!" he growled as he called the name.

Soon after, a rune circle appeared behind Siriso followed by a black-armored monster materializing in the middle of it.

"You called for me, Siriso-sama?" Juman politely inquired as he bowed.

"We'll proceed... as soon as the sun rises. I want to hear everyone's screams of despair, fear, and pain the moment they start their days."

A maniacal laugh soon followed it as thunder roared and lightning struck through the sky.

XXXXXX

"Now that I think about it, who is that woman, anyway?" Eichirou asked as he eyed the portrait on the scroll. "I've seen you and Mom hanging that portrait near the family shrine for as long as I can remember. But I never really know who she was."

"Come to think of it, I have a similar dream the night before the fire," Misae suddenly declared. "But it wasn't a woman who told me about the Vessels."

"Then who did?" Nanami asked.

"It was a falcon."

Well, that wasn't exactly the answer they were expecting.

"A falcon? Are you serious?" Eichirou asked incredulously.

Now even Itsuki and Shuichi tried to recall the events before the fire that might have been similar to what had happened to Misae and Erika.

"Would ripples of water considered to be a message giver?" Eichirou queried all of a sudden.

Itsuki groaned that made him slap his forehead. "Great! Now Mother Nature could talk to you. How is it possible for water to actually give you a message about these Vessels whatsoever?"

"I'm serious!" Eichirou insisted.

"Since when?" Itsuki retorted.

Eichirou exhaled before he got close to exploding and actually beat up Itsuki. "I had that weird dream the night before Mom's 2nd death anniversary. Actually, I think I even heard Mom's voice from the ripples."

Hideoki listened carefully to what the kids were saying. As he listened to them, most of the question he had tried his best of looking for answers were slowly being... well, answered. "What about you two, Shuichi, Itsuki?"

The two boys didn't say a word for a few moments. Until...

"The fire surrounding me and Misae that night..." Shuichi answered in a soft tone. He closed his eyes, perhaps trying to get a clear picture of the event. "They were increasingly hot. But instead of scorching us like what it did to the others, the fire only surrounded the two of us. It was as if... it was forming a circle to protect us. I don't know how, but I think I even heard voices saying 'we will protect both of you, so do not worry...' or something like that."

Hideoki nodded, as if saying he understood. Then he faced Itsuki. "It seems to me you've also experienced weird thing similar to this before the fire."

To Itsuki, he felt that the way Hideoki said those words were a statement that the man knew about it. "The trees... particularly those that were near Kawazumi Hall and Prince Palace Hotel... The way they rustled with the wind made it as if they were actually talking to me."

"Did they say something in particular?" Erika asked.

"They were all muffled to me. I don't know. I can't really tell." Of course, that was when Itsuki noticed something. "Wait a minute... If all of these weird events happened before and during the fire ten years ago, how come we only remember it now?"

Realizing that Itsuki had a point, the other four youngsters exchanged glances at each other before trying their luck in finding answers to the person whom they felt could provide it for them.

"They were deliberately blocked from your memories... until such time that the truth about your destiny and its accompanying responsibility shall be revealed to the five of you," Nanami was the one who chose to speak for Hideoki. "Your dreams, your visions—they were all warnings to all of you about the life that you are destined to face when the time comes."

"Then those dreams, visions, and whatever weird events that had happened to us before and during the fire..."

"Nanami-san said that our visions are warnings about our destiny. That means... the five of us are the current chosen Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers..." Misae finished Itsuki's words.

Hideoki nodded as soon as he sighed. "Your parents discovered ahead of time of the future that lies ahead of you. They were told about your destinies the same way you learned about the Vessels' existence. And it is those destinies that made them do what they all could to protect you. It even includes risking their lives just to make sure you wouldn't die."

Having all those information absorbed by their brains was definitely an overloaded task for them. But the five of them knew one thing. Hideoki wasn't showing on his face that everything he was telling them was a mere joke. To be honest, they really didn't know what to think about all of the revelation.

"Why did our parents have to do that? What could possibly happen if we did die along with them?" Itsuki still managed to ask the older man despite the confusion he felt from the entire information overload.

"If the five of you did die before the formal awakening—" Nanami paused as she emphasized on the word 'die'. "—the passing of the souls and powers will not happen anymore. The cycle will be cut. There had been a legend that if the chosen Vessels die before the awakening, it will become the end of everything that our ancestors and your predecessors had fought for and protected for the past 5,000 years."

No one could tell why, but somehow, the youngsters could actually feel the fear coming from Nanami's voice. But even though they could feel it, it wasn't going to help them at all. If they wanted to know the whole truth, they had to deal with this.

"It's the powers that came from the Heavenly Spirit Guardians that chose you as Vessels. They're informing us about it through various visions of your destinies. That's how your parents knew that you're the chosen Vessels," Nanami answered.

"Was that the reason... they all died that night?" Shuichi softly uttered. "The fact that they knew we're the so-called Vessels... they died in order to allow us to fulfill it?"

No one said a word to answer Shuichi's question. At the time, no one could tell if that was the reason of their parents' deaths or if there was more to what Nanami and Hideoki had already known.

"Hideoki-san, why tell this to us now? And why at this particular point in time?" Itsuki managed to ask.

It took a while for Hideoki to decide on the matter of answering the composer's question. But since it already came to this, he might as well tell the truth. The situation called for it. He took a deep breath before speaking. "You all have watched the news about the recent incident, right?"

The five youngsters frowned in confusion as to why Hideoki would ask such a random question. They nodded, anyway.

"But what would that got something to do with what we're discussing now, Dad?" Eichirou inquired.

"Someone... or something in that mountain broke one of the five seals that had imprisoned the dark force that once threatened to destroy our world 5,000 years ago," Nanami informed.

It wasn't long for the five of them to realize what exactly was going on for the two elders to decide on telling them about their destinies as the chosen Vessels.

"Though we still want you to continue living peacefully and far from danger, the current situation refused to let us allow all of you to do so," Hideoki said before any of the five could say anything.

The finality in the tone of Hideoki's voice had told them that the two elders were already in a pinch. Accepting the situation or not was not the option anymore. None of them would be able to do something as declining the task that would go with the revelation.

Soon after, Nanami took something that was placed a few paces behind her. It was a chest box that had a silhouette of a lotus flower painted on it. Colors of the five visible large petals of the flower were shown in red, blue, green, yellow, and white representing the elements of fire, water, earth, wind, and light respectively.

"Isn't this... Mom's chest box?" Eichirou uttered in confusion and slight surprise.

Hideoki took it from Nanami's hold and placed it in front of him. After that, he opened it for the five Vessels to see its contents. Deep frown was the only visible expression on their faces upon seeing that. There were two sets of items laid in that particular chest box—one looked like cylindrical in shape and the other looked like balls—and all were bearing the same symbol that was on the chest box, only gold in color.

"They're called Celestial Shifters, and Mariko made them using the last of her life force in order to protect the Heaven's Medallions inside each of it," Nanami explained.

Of course, hearing Mariko's involvement in the creation of those items caused another surprised reaction from Eichirou. "Why would Mom do that? Use the last of her life force to create those things?"

"Just like what we told you a while back, Mariko predicted the deaths of the next chosen Vessels before the awakening. Eichirou, your mother only wanted to prevent that from happening," Nanami stated gravely.

Hideoki pushed the opened chest box towards Eichirou and his friends. "Please... I know it will be hard. But I'm begging you. Assume your responsibilities as the new chosen Vessels."

What surprised the five youngsters was the fact that Hideoki wasn't only begging them to do the task, but he also bowed deeply just to convince them further. They couldn't tell if it was done out of desperation or something more. But the sight was indeed surprising. Even Nanami did the same.

Reluctance was still evident on each of the Vessels' faces. But in order to assure their guardians who had taken care of them all this time, they took what they felt was their respective Celestial Shifters.

The five of them knew that accepting these Celestial Shifters meant that they had accepted the responsibility that went with it—and that was to become the new Vessels. It was the responsibility—and most of all, the destiny—that their loved ones had protected with their lives.

But somehow, having that kind of thought in their minds seemed to be a heavy one for them to bear.

What could possibly happen now that they chose to do this?

XXXXXX

Apparently, the thought of assuming their alleged responsibilities as Vessels proved itself to be extremely disturbing. And the five of them hadn't managed to sleep well the other night because of that.

That was why, the dawn of the next day, they all headed somewhere to clear their minds before they start their days. But they did that in two groups.

The first group was consisted of Misae, Shuichi, and Eichirou. The three of them came up with an idea of taking a stroll down the beach in hopes that the sea breeze could calm their minds. It was originally Eichirou's idea. Shuichi and Misae just tagged along since biking and archery would only make them sad since those hobbies reminded them of their respective parents.

And to think it was their parents' death anniversary on that particular day, as well...

Surely, things couldn't get any gloomier for Shuichi and Misae.

"Eichirou..." Shuichi ventured upon noticing that the eldest of the group appeared to be in deep thought ever since they arrived at the beach.

"Hmm...?"

Shuichi eyed Misae and the girl seemed to have understood what it meant. She sighed and walked alongside Eichirou. "What made you decide to come here?"

But they hadn't gotten any answer from him. It was only for a short while, though. They saw him stop walking and faced the sea as Eichirou smiled wistfully at the slowly rising sun.

"Mom told me before she died... that if I want to talk to her or if I want to fade my worries away, the sea would wash it away for me. The sea breeze would comfort me just as how her hands would wipe my tears away and would embrace me when I was feeling lonely and lost. The sun rising from the horizon would make me smile just the same way her smile was able to lift up my spirit whenever I'm down." Eichirou chuckled at those words afterward. "I never even realized that she died in order to fulfill something that big. I always thought that she died because she had been sick for a long time."

Shuichi and Misae glanced at each other upon hearing that from Eichirou. So even the energetic and the person with the most childish personality among the group had long kept this kind of thoughts in his mind.

The biker soon approached Eichirou and tapped the latter's shoulder. "You know, I still envy you for that."

His words made Eichirou frown and face him. "What's there to be envious about?"

"That you still had the chance to talk to your mother like that before she died," Misae was the one who answered it. "We never had that chance when our parents were killed that night."

"They just told us that no matter what happens, they'll always be with us. Whatever it is that lies ahead of our paths, they would do their best to protect us," Shuichi added with a sigh. "I should've known that there was more to that fire than just a freak accident."

Misae nodded. "And to think Hideoki-san would save us from that fire." Then she faced Eichirou with a smile. "I guess that's how Hideoki-san really loved your mother, Eichirou-san. Even though it was extremely dangerous, because of her prediction about Shuichi, Itsuki-kun, Erika-chan, and I dying in that fire, he charged towards the burning building just to save us. He still values her wishes more than anything else."

Giving it a careful thought, Eichirou had to admit that Misae had a point on that. His father only thought about on how to protect them and ease the pain of losing the people they loved, never his own sacrifices and pain. "To be honest, that was the first time I've seen Dad that serious and had begged us to do something."

"That's because it is a task that he couldn't do for our sakes," Shuichi stated. "I can tell that if there's such ability that could take away our duties as the new Vessels from us and place it to him, I know he would do whatever it takes to have that ability."

"This would be the first and the last favor that—" Misae paused, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. "—that I will fulfill whatever it takes. At least... this is my way of thanking him for saving us from that fire and taking care of us for the past ten years."

"Misae..."

"Mi-chan..."

The archer took a deep breath and smiled at the rising sun. "I guess being unable to sleep a wink last night and feeling the sea breeze today helped me come up with that decision."

The two boys eyed Misae for a few moments before ending up chuckling. Shuichi just shook his head in slight disbelief while Eichirou smiled widely. But before they could say something about that, the three of them heard beeping sounds coming from their respective Celestial Shifters.

They noticed that the lotus symbol on their Shifters' covers were... blinking.

"What could this mean?" Shuichi queried.

But the answer they all got was a series of explosion coming from the main plaza.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, the second group consisting of the Hoshiyama siblings decided to go to the Music Conservatory in order to think what Itsuki and Erika heard the other night was definitely something that was out of this world. But the fact that their parents died in order to protect the truth was enough for both of them to think that the world was really unfair.

For 10 years, they've lived with the fact that the fire did take something important away from them. But now, they realized that the fire also hid the reality that they were destined to face as the chosen Vessels.

Itsuki touched the keys of the piano on the stadium—the very same piano that Erika was using the other day to practice.

Erika could only look at her brother whose mind was surely wandering aimlessly somewhere. She couldn't even say anything to make him snap out of it. But what could she possibly say to him? Even she was shocked upon hearing the revelation. And yet, learning all that made her realize that her parents knew she and her brother could be more than being musicians.

"Onii-chan..." Erika called in hopes of distracting Itsuki and stop him from spacing out even more. "Are you angry?"

For a few moments, it was total silence that surrounded the siblings. Then Itsuki sighed and started playing a few notes onto the piano. But abruptly, he stopped.

"Whether I'm angry or not, it doesn't even matter. Mother and Father were already dead. They died protecting us and our true reason for existing in this world," Itsuki stated with his hand bawled into fist.

"But that doesn't mean we had lived for this long just because we are the chosen Vessels," Erika said in understanding before holding Itsuki's fist. She felt Itsuki loosening up at that gesture. "Hideoki-san said it last night. The current situation prevented us from continuing to live our lives peacefully. It only means that even though we are Vessels, he still wanted us to live like normal people."

Itsuki exasperatingly sighed and looked at Erika incredulously. "How in the world can you still think like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're not even bothered by what we learned at all."

The pianist looked intently at her composer brother before answering. "Even if I admit that I'm really bothered, how will that change the fact that we're destined to fulfill this? It won't change anything. But it will be enough for us to realize that Mother and Father defended our destinies with their lives so that we could protect the world that they immensely cherished till the day they died."

"You're talking strangely formal again," Itsuki commented to which Erika just replied with a giggle. He looked intently at his sister this time. "Are you sure about doing that?"

Erika covered Itsuki's hand with both of hers. "Onii-chan, I won't be able to know how far I'll go if you constantly hold on to me like this. I know you're worried and scared to death—"

"Hey! I'm not scared."

"—but the moment I was told of my destiny as one of the five Vessels, I realized that this is my chance for me to know that."

"Erika..."

The girl smiled to assure Itsuki. "I'll be alright, Onii-chan. You just got to believe that. Okay?"

Well, if Erika started giving speech like that which discussed faith in her, then Itsuki knew he couldn't say anything to retort to that. He nodded as an answer to that which made Erika's smile widen.

"Thank you so much, Onii-chan!" And because of excitement, she tackled her brother in a big hug.

But that brother-sister moment was interrupted upon hearing something like continuous beeping. Realizing that they brought their Celestial Shifters with them, and it was possibly be the ones beeping, both of them immediately checked their pockets where they were placed. They were right, the beeping came from their Celestial Shifters with which the lotus symbol on the covers were blinking.

The siblings looked at each other with a frown.

"No one's possibly calling us using this, right?" Itsuki uttered. "I mean, we just got them from Hideoki-san last night."

Erika shrugged and started walking away from the stage. "Maybe we should head home."

But before any of them could move further, they saw the Music Conservatory's caretaker Kawabata entering the music hall. They saw him panting and in slight panic. Worried, Erika approached the said person.

"Kawabata-san, are you alright?" she worriedly asked.

"Did something happen?" Itsuki followed suit and approached the adult man.

Kawabata took a deep breath after recovering. "It's better if you two should stay here for a while just until the commotion is over."

"Commotion?" The siblings repeated almost at the same time that deepened their frowns. They looked at each other again.

"Don't tell me...?"

But a loud explosion coming from the main plaza only heightened their suspicion of what could possibly make their Celestial Shifters react.

XXXXXX

One big explosion... followed by another one.

But that wasn't the only horrifying scene that shocked the people and caused chaos in the main plaza of Tsukikage Town. Those explosions were caused by monstrous beings-the Gargonema-mercilessly killing people one after another.

"That's it! That's the way to do it!" the Triske Monster Juman yelled as he continued laughing maniacally while killing people using his thorned arms that could extend quite far.

Juman continued swinging his arms towards its victims, immediately blasting them away the moment the thorn arms hit them. The Gargonema killed the other citizens with their swords without mercy.

In less than ten minutes, lifeless bodies of the humans were left scattered on the road and at the plaza.

This was the horrific scene that greeted the five Vessels upon arriving. Gaping at it didn't seem to be enough as an expression of surprise for them.

"You've got to be kidding..." was the only words Erika could utter.

"Just who in the world are these guys?" Eichirou exclaimed but immediately clamped him mouth upon realizing that the weird-looking beings killing the citizens one by one mercilessly might hear him. But in the end, he doubted that it would even happen.

The area was filled with screams of the citizens blending with the growls and battle cries of the creatures attacking them.

"They could be the ones responsible for the deaths at Mt. Kumamoto yesterday," Itsuki concluded. "That means..."

"They were the enemies released from one of the broken seals. That means these guys are the ones that the chosen Vessels had been trying to destroy for several millennia," Shuichi added. And for him, it was a dreadful fact that they needed to start dealing with.

"We need to do something. I can't take this anymore!" Misae said desperately.

Shuichi exasperatingly sighed. "Even if we want to help, what in the world can we do?"

"Use your Celestial Shifters to transform and access your powers."

Upon hearing that, the five Vessels turned around almost immediately and saw Hideoki approaching them with the same grave look he had since the night before.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I figured you will have a hard time knowing what to do," Hideoki answered. "I used the Hasureiki from the Heaven's Medallions in your Celestial Shifters to locate you. So don't be shocked that I immediately figured out where you are."

"Then how are we going to stop all these... whoever are these bunch of weird creatures?" Eichirou immediately asked.

"They're called the Gargonema, Eichirou. They're the foot soldiers of the Dark Shadow Defenders... or they're most commonly known to the people who knew their existence as Tareans," Hideoki stated, rolling his eyes for his son who still had a nerve to joke around at a time like these.

"I don't care who they are. If we stay here a little bit longer, everyone in this town will be eradicated," Itsuki added in desperation.

Hideoki wasted no time and immediately told the five of them the actions they needed to do. Well, he figured that the situation would definitely be turned to something worst if nothing was done.

And so he told them. It was about time, anyway.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, the enemies continued to strike down the helpless citizens.

"That's it! That's the way! Don't leave anyone out! Make them suffer!" was Juman's continuous encouragement to his soldiers with a cackle.

Just as they desire for humans' screams and suffering to increase the dark powers of the Tareus Dimension in order to fully destroy the other four Tarean seals, the Gargonema heeded their master's words. They would not allow anyone to stop them from fully getting out of the Dimension and take over the world just as they had originally planned 5,000 years ago.

Juman was about to strike down an unfortunate salary man who had stumbled down on his way to escape with the Triske Monster's thorn arms. But icicles thrown towards Juman distracted the said monster in his work. In fact, a few of the icicles didn't only distract Juman but it also struck the Triske Monster's thorn arm that was about to kill the man and froze it.

"Who dares disturb my fun?!" was Juman's enraged reaction who was still trying his best to release himself from the ice spell that obviously enveloped the icicles thrown at him.

Juman, and even the Gargonema, frantically looked around to search for the caster of that ice spell.

"That's the last fun you'll ever going to have, Tareans!"

Upon hearing that, Juman immediately found the source of it. On one area of that park stood 5 young people.

"Who do you think you are to disturb my fun, huh?!"

Shuichi clenched his fist at that and stepped up. "Let's see if you're still going to have fun when we defeat you and your disgusting minions!"

"I don't know how we'll be able to end this, but we have to do what we can," Eichirou said in a serious tone, which was nothing like they've ever heard of from him before.

But he was right. The others nodded in agreement. Soon after that, they've faced their enemy with hard stares towards them and full of determination.

The five Vessels opened their Celestial Shifters and placed their respective Heaven's Medallion onto the slot and pressed the gold button that has the word 'Transform' scribbled on it.

 **"Spirit Shift, Start!"**

They crossed their arms in front of her as they recited the command phrase. With conviction, they brought their arms with their Celestial Shifters forward. As soon as they did that, their Shifters emanated a bright glow with their respective color representations.

That glow covered their bodies with rune lotus circles appearing beneath each of them in their respective colors. Those entities soon formed the Seitengers' colored suits (red for Shuichi, blue for Eichirou, green for Itsuki, yellow for Misae, and white for Erika) with gold and silver color accenting it. The girls gained skirts with gold stripe on the hem over their colored suits. The five of them gained white fitting gloves with lengths that reached their forearms along with boots of their respective colors. Silver versions of the lotus symbol had become the crest accenting their chest over their elemental symbols. Their sidearms soon materialized along with their black belts—which were the cylindrical item they found alongside their Shifters in Mariko's chest box—before the golden silhouette of the coin medallions covered their faces and heads that formed their masks with the same lotus symbol placed on the forehead of their masks.

After that transformation, all the Gargonema-and even Juman-began fidgeting and moving from their place in shock.

"It can't be! They've returned?" Juman muttered along with the surprise he initially felt.

Despite the confusion over the situation, especially about what had just happened a few moments ago, Shuichi and the others could feel something like knowing what to do even though they were considered to be first timers in this field.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!"** Shuichi announced as he did his stance.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!"** Eichirou followed suit.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!"** Itsuki also announced.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!"** Misae did the same right after Itsuki.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!"** And lastly, Erika did her part of the announcement.

 **"The Hundred Heavens' greatest victory! Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger!"**

SeitenFire pointed towards Juman and the Gargonema. "It's time we set up the right stage for you!"

The Seitengers positioned themselves to a stance as Juman started laughing madly as if something had indeed amused him to the extent of making him laugh as such.

"For you Seitenger brats to appear before me... You sure have asked for your funeral." After that, he faced the Gargonema behind him who were just waiting for Juman's orders. "Get them!"

With that, the Gargonema charged towards their new targets-the awakened Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers, the Seitengers!

And for the Vessels, this was definitely the start!

"Let's go!"

Upon that command from SeitenFire, the rest of the team prepared themselves to deal with the creatures that they must defeat. And with that resolve, they charged towards the enemies with each of them bringing out their primary sidearms that had five-coloured buttons surrounding it-the cylindrical item called Hyakureider that had a retractable blade which they activated upon pushing the green button. All of them didn't have a background on how to wield swords but maybe they could think of a way to wield it properly.

But right now wasn't the time to think of maybe's. They had to do what they could to fight these guys.

All five of them started striking and slashing the Gargonema that kept coming at them. On the blade-less end of their Hyakureider, they also learned that they could fire laser beams from it as they pushed the yellow button. They fired it toward their enemies which made it easy for them to eliminate the other attacking Gargonema. They were newbies in terms of actual combat like this. But surprisingly, they were all dealing with them without a problem. It was as if they already knew what to do when it comes to fighting the enemies.

But despite the team's effort to fight well, there were still too many Gargonema coming after them. After a few more fights, the enemies started cornering the Seitengers.

"This is crazy! They just keep on coming at us!" SeitenWater exclaimed in frustration as he kept doing what he could to fend off the Gargonema, especially some of those that were coming after SeitenWind and SeitenLight.

"Our Hyakureiders aren't enough! We need more firepower to deal with this much Gargonema," SeitenEarth suggested as he also fended off the enemies on his side. "Physically fighting them like this will take us a day to finish."

"Oh, come on! I don't want to face them for a whole day!" SeitenWind blurted out as she fended off many more enemies attacking her.

"Onii-chan, do you have any ideas? You're the one who suggested about having more firepower," SeitenLight inquired as she continued fighting the Gargonema.

Well, the white warrior does have a point. But thinking of a source for more firepower? Just where in the world would SeitenEarth be able to have that? And seriously, he couldn't do that on the spot-especially right now that they were all in the battlefield.

But at that point, he recalled a certain part of their conversation with Hideoki a while back about something from the Heaven's Medallion placed in their Shifters. What was it called again?

 _Hasureiki... It's not only the Heaven's Medallions that have them, but also the Spirit Power Medallions._

Okay... How come it was called like that?

"Oh, forget it!"

"Oi, Itsu-chan! What are you planning to do?"

"Adding more firepower... by summoning something important that enables us to draw forth more of our Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Hasureiki," was the green warrior's reply and pushed the lower button with the word 'Summon' on his Celestial Shifter near the 'Transform' button. **"Come Forth, Heaven Tiger!"** With that command, the Shifter immediately emanated a bright glow that soon materialized a green coin medallion with a tiger's head etched at the middle. The item was the size of a large coin that SeitenEarth took.

At that point, SeitenEarth also noticed something like two coin slots on the top end of his Hyakureider. So that's why there was a slot there.

"Okay!" SeitenEarth placed the Heaven Tiger on the aforementioned slot and assumed his stance as soon as he pushed the blue-colored button which soon made the sword glowed in green light. **"Hyakureider, Form Shift!"** Almost immediately, the glowing sword began morphing into another form-obviously a claw-like weapon. **"Tiger Earth Slasher!"**

At that point, the form of the weapon became visible. SeitenEarth's Hyakureider became a scissors katar-like weapon bearing the same symbol of the Vessel Medallion he summoned-which he had placed on the slot of the Hyakureider a while back-on the blade of the weapon.

"Wow... Itsu-chan really thought about that. But I wonder what does it do," SeitenWater said as he watched the progress of the situation.

"He asked for additional powers. Now he got it. So it's our turn now to have our own, as well. I think that's the Vessel Medallion that Hideoki-san was talking about a while back before we started fighting the Tareans," SeitenFire said as he followed SeitenEarth's lead. The two girls agreed with a nod.

While the rest were busy summoning their respective Vessel Medallions to call out their weapons, SeitenEarth went ahead on destroying as many Gargonema as he could just until the other Seitengers were ready. Of course, he used his Tiger Earth Slasher to do that. No enemies had ever managed to escape its blade the moment they came in contact with it as SeitenEarth kept on striking it towards his opponents. As SeitenEarth, he figured out that dealing with the Gargonema with this weapon proved to be much easier, despite having an initial thought about it being heavy. But one thing he knew, his weapon was surely a deadly one to handle.

SeitenFire pushed the required button on his Celestial Shifter. **"Come Forth, Heaven Lion!"** His Shifter immediately emanated a bright glow that materialized a red coin medallion with the head of a lion etched at the middle. As soon as he took it, he placed it into the slot of his Hyakureider and pushed the blue button. **"Hyakureider, Form Shift!"** His sword began to glow bright red and morphed into another form. **"Lion Fire Blade!"**

The Hyakureider took its second form and when the glow vanished, the new weapon appeared. It was a naginata-like weapon with blades about 2 meters in length with the same symbol of his Vessel Medallion on the blade near the two hilts.

As soon as it appeared, SeitenFire headed out to battle and began striking groups of Gargonema with ease. The Lion Fire Blade had also somehow increased his speed and it was evident on how fast he was taking down the enemies. He could also split the naginata into two to form twin swords.

SeitenWater nodded with determination and began doing the same thing as SeitenEarth and SeitenFire.

 **"Come Forth, Heaven Shark!"** His Vessel Medallion appeared right after the Celestial Shifter emanated a bright blue glow that materialized the said item. It was a blue coin medallion with the head of a shark carved right in the middle of it. SeitenWater placed the item to its designated slot on the Hyakureider he held.

 **"Hyakureider, Form Shift! Shark Water Spear!"** The command that SeitenWater recited as soon as he pushed the required button caused his Hyakureider to glow bright blue and morphed it into a polearm weapon-a yari-like weapon with his Vessel Medallion's symbol etched on the blade of the weapon.

"Alright! Time to take down the Gargonema with this!" And with that, SeitenWater headed out and destroyed another batch of Gargonema heading towards him. He was pretty much enthusiastic in dealing with the black-clad enemies using his new weapon. Slash after slash, he didn't miss a single enemy with his spear.

As for SeitenWind and SeitenLight, they followed the boys' lead and called forth their respective Vessel Medallions using their own Celestial Shifters.

 **"Come Forth, Heaven Falcon!"**

 **"Come Forth, Heaven Dove!"**

Their Shifters glowed bright for a few second before vanishing and was immediately replaced with the Vessel Medallions they summoned. SeitenWind's Vessel Medallion was a yellow coin-shaped with etching of a falcon's head while SeitenLight's was colored white with the figure of a dove with its wings spread wide etched on it. Both of them placed it on the slots of their Hyakureider.

 **"Hyakureider, Form Shift!"**

At that point, their sidearms began glowing bright with their respective color representations of their Hasureiki.

 **"Falcon Wind Arrow!"** SeitenWind's Hyakureider morphed and became a long bow which, of course, had made her quite excited. Her longbow had the figure of her Vessel Medallion on the arch. "Woah! Now this is more like it," she commented with a giggle and positioned herself to fight.

 **"Dove Light Striker!"** At that command, SeitenLight's Hyakureider started morphing and after a few moments, her sidearm changed into a 3-bladed land shuriken with the figure of her Vessel Medallion molded on the intersection of the blades.

"Here we go!" the two girls exclaimed and both of them headed towards the enemies that were about to strike them.

SeitenWind, with her expertise in archery in her civilian form, was able to use her weapon with ease. In fact, she was able to merge her wind powers-despite not knowing how it actually worked yet-with her arrows she kept on shooting towards her targets. Upon doing that, she was able to take down groups of Gargonema with just a few arrows at hand. Anyway, she was using magical arrows.

As for SeitenLight, even though it was her first time to wield such weapon, it didn't take her long enough for her to be able to use it. Much to her surprise, she was able to use it to take down multiple Gargonema with so much force as she threw the shuriken towards them. She could actually command its path so she managed to destroy a few more enemy group that were even located a few more meters away from her.

Upon taking down the last of the summoned Gargonema, the five Seitengers gathered and faced Juman. The Triske Monster obviously didn't like the turn of events in front of him.

"You're the only one left, Juman," SeitenFire said with conviction as his grip on both handle of his Lion Fire Blade in twin blade mode tightened.

"Prepare to die!" SeitenWater added.

"As if I'd let you kill me!" And with that, Juman charged towards the Seitengers as he growled. He extended his thorn arms and tried to strike it to them but the team managed to evade it in time.

Being together for a long time sure had its advantage as words weren't needed for each of them to know the plan. SeitenFire headed to strike first.

"I'm counting on you, my blades," he mumbled as he raised it. With one swift move, he leapt to the air and delivered his first strike.

"I hope I get a lesson on how to use a spear after this commotion," SeitenWater muttered and decided to attack, as well. Right after SeitenFire, he followed in delivering his final attack to Juman who still hadn't recovered from SeitenFire's blow.

"Never thought I'm actually meant to do something like this. But right now, that doesn't matter," SeitenEarth readied himself and poised to deliver his attack using his weapon. Full concentration was what he needed but he was actually surprised that he could do so in the middle of the battle. But since he was doing it to prevent further casualties, he might as well go with it.

And with that thought, he headed out and charged towards Juman.

The two girls decided to attack following the first 3 ones. After all, their weapons were meant to deliver mid-ranged attacks to their enemies. Now both SeitenWind and SeitenLight were going to attack simultaneously using the Falcon Wind Arrow and the Dove Light Striker respectively.

At SeitenFire's signal, SeitenYellow shot one arrow that immediately multiplied followed by SeitenLight throwing her shuriken. All of it struck Juman multiple times that he couldn't even do anything to fight back or counter the Seitengers' simultaneous attacks. In fact, the Dove Light Striker delivered the fatal blow to Juman that rendered the Triske Monster unable to move faster.

"Shuichi, now!" was SeitenWind's scream while looking at a certain direction.

From that direction, SeitenFire came out charging towards the motionless Juman with the blades of his Lion Fire Blade blazing in red fire. With that, he delivered his heavy final attack to Juman.

It didn't take long before Juman exploded and got destroyed as his scream echoed for a while before he got blasted to atoms.

SeitenFire's weapon reverted back to being a Hyakureider. The same goes to the other Seitengers who approached the exhaling red warrior.

"Wow! Shuichi, you're really good out there!" SeitenWater exclaimed as he glomped on the red warrior despite the latter's effort to get away.

"Wait a minute! Eichirou-san, you're going to kill him like that!" SeitenWind could only say as he tried to pacify the two older boys.

But SeitenLight couldn't help noticing SeitenEarth's tensed silence in the midst of her enjoying the interaction between SeitenFire and SeitenWater. It didn't take long for the said two Seitengers and even SeitenWind to notice that, as well.

"Is there still something wrong, Itsu-chan?" SeitenWater asked as he approached the silent green warrior.

"Don't you guys feel it? That dark energy hovering around..."

SeitenWind didn't waste any more time to figure out SeitenEarth's source of worries. "He's right... The dark energy's still here."

The other 3 Seitengers tried sensing the dark energy that SeitenWind and SeitenEarth was talking about. A few moments later, they later realized that it was true.

"But where could that be coming from?" SeitenLight inquired as she looked around.

Though before any of them could begin searching for the energy's source, SeitenFire and SeitenWater saw a black orb coming from the reeking dark energy of Juman's remnants.

"Don't tell me...?"

The orb absorbed the remaining dark energy reeking before any of the Seitengers could stop it. In a flash, they saw it expand to the point where it could even surpass the size and height of the tallest mountains and building in the country. The orb immediately vanished after a few more seconds and revealed an enlarged and revived version of Juman.

"I told you! This will get even more interesting!" The Triske Monster growled in a deep voice.

Of course, this was a shock to the Seitengers.

"Are you kidding me? We can't fight that Triske Monster with that heck of his giant form!" SeitenWater exclaimed as he kept flailing around.

"But how did that happen?" SeitenLight muttered despite the surprise.

SeitenFire heard SeitenLight's question and at one point, he recalled something that his mother once said to him.

 _"There will come a time wherein you'll be facing an enemy that has two personas. You might be able to defeat the first persona easily. But in order for you to defeat that enemy completely and erase it from this world, you need to destroy its last persona-the seed of all its evil nature..."_

"The seed... of all its evil nature..." SeitenFire immediately looked up to face the giant Triske Monster Juman. "So the enemy she was talking about at that time... was a Triske Monster..."

"Hey, Shuichi, what are you talking about?"

The said red warrior faced SeitenWater. "My mother... She said something about defeating an enemy that have 2 personas. I think at that time, she wasn't talking about a mere human enemy."

"Well, we just defeated Juman and now he's revived and grown to the height of two skyscrapers on top of one another in mere seconds. I wish I had that kind of ability to increase my height."

"Your mother already knew we're going to face this kind of enemy," SeitenLight looked up and examine the enemy. "So now, we need to defeat the second persona."

"My mother called it as 'the seed of all its evil nature'."

"In short, just call it the Triske Seed," SeitenEarth deadpanned. "Did your mother mention anything about the way on how to defeat the Seed, Shuichi-san?"

But SeitenFire shook his head. "She didn't mention anything about that, unfortunately." With that, he sighed dejectedly.

Before any of them could think of a way, their respective Vessel Medallions still placed on the slot of their Hyakureider suddenly emanated bright lights that caught their attention. Even Juman got distracted at the sight of it.

 ** _"Summon us... and together with your powers, we'll defeat the Triske Seed completely..."_**

That voice, as SeitenWind heard it, actually came from SeitenFire's Vessel Medallion. "The Spirit representing the Vessel Medallion... Could it be that they're also...?"

 _ **"That's right. We also represent the powers of the Grand Vessel Spirits protecting the Earth along with the Seitengers."**_

 _ **"And we'll be with you today to fight and destroy the Seed, just as your predecessors had done before."**_

Of course, with that confirmation, the Seitengers felt as if they've gained new hope on how to deal with the Triske Seed. Especially since it was the team's first time to actually face that kind of enemy.

"Then lead us," SeitenEarth said before he paused and looked at the Vessel Medallion on his Hyakureider.

 _ **"Just call me Terraiger, Itsuki. I am what the Heavenly Spirit Guardians call as Terraiger, the Rumbling Tiger of the Tremulous Heavens."**_

SeitenEarth nodded. "Nice meeting you, Terraiger."

"I'm envious," SeitenWater suddenly said. "Itsu-chan's already friendly with the spirit of his Vessel Medallion."

 _ **"We'll have a proper introduction later, Eichirou-san. Our priority right now is the destruction of the Triske Seed."**_

Reminded of the task to be done, the Seitengers readied themselves to face the Triske Seed. They poised their Hyakureider with its blade retracted and with its respective Vessel Medallions still placed on their slots in front of them. After that, they all pushed the red button on their sidearms.

For the final part, they thrusted their Hyakureider up in the air.

 **"Spirit Summon, Start!"**

The command allowed the team to summon their respective Grand Vessel Spirits as a portal opened before they saw five-colored animals (Firion, the red lion; Sereo, the blue shark; Terraiger, the green tiger; Skylon, the yellow falcon; and Dovight, the white dove) descend from the sky. When the five Grand Vessel Spirits landed, the Seitengers wasted no time and leapt in order for them to go inside each of it they summoned. As for the Grand Vessel Spirits, they looked like the creatures they represented, only metallic and more mechanical. The only common factor of the Grand Vessel Spirits' designs on their bodies were the accent colors of black and gray aside from the golden silhouette of the lotus flower in full bloom on each of their foreheads.

It was the same golden silhouette that made up the crest found on Mariko's chest box where the Celestial Shifters were kept for more than 10 years.

Once inside each of the Grand Vessel Spirits, the Seitengers noticed that each of them looked a lot like they were placed in clear egg-shaped chambers/cockpits. And these chambers (which they knew had all the control mechanisms needed to operate the Vessel Spirits) appeared to have been placed in holsters that had each of the Seitengers' symbols-their respective Vessel Medallions.

"Seriously... Never in my life have I thought of controlling something as enormous as our Grand Vessel Spirits," SeitenLight could only comment as she engrossed and at the same time, focus herself on the next action.

"Well, we already accepted the task. Let's just get on with it so we can go home already and do what we have to do today," SeitenFire said as he took his position in front of the small podium-like control mechanism in front of him. He inserted the Hyakureider into its slot-letting it become a control rod for Firion.

The other four Seitengers didn't take long to do the same.

And doing so, they knew it was time for them to do what they had to do-and that was to defeat the Triske Seed.

"Let's do this!"

The five Grand Vessel Spirits, upon the control and command of their respective partners, began charging towards Juman. Three of the mecha did so as they soared the sky (Sereo, Skylon, and Dovight) while the other two were on land (Firion and Terraiger).

"This is going to be interesting, indeed. I finally got the chance to destroy the Grand Vessel Spirits myself," Juman said with a sneer as he threw his stretching thorn arms towards the charging mecha coming after him.

"Great! Not those thorn arms again!" SeitenWater complained but chose to just counter it with a spell in his mind instead of actually evading it. **"Shark Icicle Ray!"**

Light blue-colored particle beam with large icicles thrust towards Juman's thorn arms as soon as Sereo that SeitenWater controlled had opened its mouth. The icicles cut the thorn arms and hit Juman at the same time as the beam actually froze him to the spot.

"It won't last long, though. Guys, it's your turn to deliver your finishers on this one. The ice spell isn't that powerful enough!"

"At least not powerful enough... yet," SeitenWind muttered.

"It did give us an opening, though," SeitenLight stated. **"Dove Crosser Thrust!"** And on SeitenLight's control over Dovight, her mecha charged towards Juman in an unbelievable speed as she continued hitting the Triske Seed with its wings and head from different directions.

 **"Falcon Dive Strike!"** From above, as soon as SeitenWind made Skylon halt to a stop, it came diving downward fast and struck Juman head first. SeitenWind's mecha did it in almost the same speed as the Dove Crosser Thrust.

"Itsuki, we'll fire our finishers from our positions," SeitenFire ordered that SeitenEarth only answered with a nod accompanied by an agreeing sound.

As soon as they both prepared their finishing shots, SeitenFire faced Terraiger's direction. "On my count! 3... 2... 1!"

 **"Tiger Ground Blast!"**

 **"Lion Blaze Crusher!"**

Green colored beam from the eyes and mouth of Terraiger and red colored beam from the mouth and mane of Firion all headed straight to Juman who wasn't even given a chance for a counterattack. All the Triske Seed did was to scream in pain before it faded into nothingness as soon as he got blasted into atoms once again.

When the rage of the explosion finally subsided, it made the Seitengers knew that Juman was gone-this time for good as they had not felt anymore dark energy hovering around the area.

"Stage set!"

XXXXXX

"It seems to me they did great for first timers," Hideoki murmured in satisfaction as he watched the progress of the battle from beginning to end from one of the high-rise buildings in the town near the battlefield.

He looked up to the blue sky as he smiled upon seeing the image of his smiling wife, Mariko.

"The children had already chosen this path, Mariko. But I still need you and the others to guide them to this journey wherever you all are right now. I can't do this alone, you know..."

The wind blew soft that made him close his eyes. It felt like it was his wife's hand, caressing his face with those gentle hands. When he opened them again, the sun began to shine bright. Come to think of it, it would already be near noon. He might as well prepare something special for those kids to eat when they get home.

Though he doubted that they would be eating it anytime soon.

XXXXXX

"Thank goodness, that's over. I thought I have to deal with those Gargonema all day," Misae said as the five of them walked together.

Erika took out her Hyakureider from its holster on her side as she looked at it alongside her Celestial Shifter on her wrist. "But surely, it was quite an experience, right?"

"It nearly got us killed, though! Never in my life have I thought that I would actually deal with those weird-looking jerks," Eichirou complained.

"But it did open our eyes to the truth and the battle that our parents had faced for so long. It opened our eyes to the new life that we have to live now," Itsuki added without looking at any of the other Vessels as he continued walking.

Shuichi was watching Itsuki as he trudged along with Misae. "But what did you feel about that, Itsuki? About the fact that we learned from all these commotions?"

It made the said composer stop to his tracks. The others soon did the same. No words were spoken for a few moments. But they patiently waited for Itsuki to answer.

And he did... after heaving a sigh and faced the biker.

"We can't change the past that took the lives of the people we cared for more than anything else," Itsuki started before taking out his Hyakureider from its holster on his side. He held it tight as he eyed the lotus symbol etched on it. "But our parents gave us another chance to live and protect each other. They gave us a chance to help the others using the powers that we inherited from them. Their deaths opened the path for us to take. Hideoki-san and Nanami-san nudged us to walk toward it. Now it's our turn to choose whether to stay on that spot that made us unable to do anything, or to start moving forward to put an end to this once and for all."

The other four exchanged looks at each other before smiling upon realizing that Itsuki was right. A simple nod from each of them was enough as an answer.

"Now that settles it. I think we should head out to the place we need to go today," Shuichi suggested as he started walking again. "After all, we can't keep them waiting for us today, right?"

XXXXXX

It should have been a normal day for the five Vessels. But right at that moment, they all knew it wasn't going to be that way starting that day... and it would never be anymore.

Not after all that they've learned on that fateful day.

Right now, they were all at the cemetery with all of them bringing bouquets of their respective deceased family members' favorite flowers.

Shuichi brought a bouquet of azaleas upon visiting his parents' graves. He placed them neatly on top and cherished a few moments of silence with them.

Eichirou-with a bouquet of white lily on his hands-visited his mother's grave even though her death anniversary was the other day. He didn't get to talk to his mother that day so he would take this opportunity to do so. He placed the bouquet atop the gravestone with the engravings of Mariko's name, date of birth, and date of death on it. A bittersweet smile curved the man's lips as he faced the gravestone.

Misae went to her parents' graves bringing along a bouquet of pink and white carnations with her. They were actually the flowers that started her parents' relationship, besides the fact that the white carnation was also her favorite flower. She placed it on their graves before lighting up some incense she brought and started praying for them.

Itsuki and Erika each brought a bouquet of stargazer lilies which was the flower emblem of the Hoshiyama family. With a wistful smile and unshed tears, they began praying for the two people who had deliberately risked their lives to protect the siblings at all cost.

But their deaths had indeed opened a path that those five individuals were destined to take. Their parents' deaths made them realize the destiny that lies ahead of them and it was bound on the mission that was passed on to them.

On that fateful day, the five of them knew their lives would change drastically from that day onwards. After all, they were all now resolved to face the responsibility of becoming the new Vessels. Now, they were all honor bound to face a new life filled with the power and desire to pursue justice and ensure the world's peace-though it was also going to be a life of bloodshed and battle for the sake of the protection of the world.

But it doesn't matter.

They were going to do all that they could to defeat the Tareans, and no one could stop them.

 **End of Vessel 1**

 _ **Next time on Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger:**_

The training begins for the five Vessels with regards to the use of their respective _Hasureiki_ , the energy they uses to combat the Tareans. But as they begin to finally get a hang of it somehow, trouble comes in when a Triske Monster attacks. Kanako is among the victims that it causes Eichirou to believe that his involvement to her will only endanger her. Itsuki talks to Eichirou, revealing that he also has the same fear. Knowing that they can never avoid the danger that goes with the path that the people they care about have chosen, it gives them the determination to protect those people as they continue to do their best to protect the world.

 _Vessel 2: Courage Within The Fear_


	5. Vessel 2 (Full Episode)

**Vessel 2: Courage Within The Fear (Full Episode)**

 ** _Mizuhashi Mansion..._**

Being heroes of the world was, of course, not something one would consider as a walk in the park. Especially if you were truly a novice in the field. So that's where trainers come forth. And in the Vessels' case, their trainers were the people close to them.

Their training began two days after their first encounter and battle with the Tareans. Hideoki and Nanami left their jobs at the pastry job and at the bookstore respectively to their trusted assistants for a while in order for them to personally oversee the Vessels' training.

First up: Hasureiki invocation.

"Hasureiki is already existing within the five of you. Now the real problem lies on how to conjure it from within in order for you to turn it into a force meant to attack. That's where the Reikarajustu comes in," Hideoki started.

Eichirou raised his hand that caught the historian's attention.

"Can we actually conjure Hasureiki even if we're not transformed? I mean, you did that when you summoned ice spears to attack Juman even from your hiding position at that time."

"You can, but it's not as powerful as the Hasureiki you use to battle the Tareans when you're transformed." Hideoki cleared his throat before he continued. "It is the Heaven's Medallion placed in each of your Shifters that taps the full capacity of your Hasureiki. That's why you become stronger whenever you become Seitengers."

Nanami stepped in to the discussion as soon as Hideoki gave the signal. "Now, everyone, I want you to look at what I'm about to do. This is the first step of Reikarajutsu." With her right palm on top of the other, she took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

The Vessels could only watch in anticipation on what was about to happen. Well, whatever it was that would happen, they must have to carefully observe it.

It didn't take long before something happened.

"Woah!"

A wall of pale pink light appeared on Nanami's palm that slowly rotated. They thought they'd seen enough until the ball gently opened... like a flower blossoming.

"Lotus...?"

Nanami opened her eyes soon after and smiled at the sight of the surprised looks on the faces of her "students."

"This is the basic physical manifestation of the Hasureiki that we know. One reason for this flower shape to exist is because the lotus flower is the symbol of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians."

"So that's why the same flower was engraved in Mom's chest box," Eichirou stated as he nodded.

"Does all of our Hasureiki had that kind of physical manifestation, Nanami-san?" Erika inquired.

"At first, yes. But as you grow stronger by training and fighting, each of the lotus flower that you will conjure will reveal the true form of your respective Hasureiki. As for the final form of your powers... Well, that's for you to find out for yourself."

All Nanami got were skeptical looks as a response to what she said. She beckoned them to stand up. With a simple instruction of focusing their Hasureiki into one single point, they all did as they were told. But they all couldn't help thinking that in a way, there was still something missing.

Moments later, balls of colored light in their respective colors appeared on their palm. Of course, it wasn't a wonder that the five of them were delighted. But here comes the real problem.

"Uh, guys... Do you know how to open this Hasureiki ball and make it a blossoming lotus?" It was a weird thing for a guy to ask that. Or at least that's what Eichirou thought.

Even so, it was the very same question that the rest of the Vessels had in mind.

"It all starts with that ball of light, Eichirou," Hideoki said as he decided to step in to the training. "The mere fact that you could conjure that ball only proves that you're one step closer to tapping your Hasureiki's full power."

"That means... the blossoming lotus is like a measurement of our powers' growth?" Itsuki added in which Hideoki answered with a nod.

Moments later, the ball of light that each of the Vessels conjured disappeared. All five of them felt weak after that.

"I guess it won't be easy to conjure that Hasureiki ball until we get a full grasp on how to manipulate our Hasureiki," Erika commented as she breathe heavily.

"But we have to try," Shuichi said that made the others look at him. "Giving up just after learning that won't really get us anywhere and it won't even help us gain the Grand Vessel Spirits' trust to support us in our battles."

None of them were able to say anything after that. But soon after, Hideoki and Nanami smiled. The other four Vessels glanced at each other and shared a knowing smile.

"You know, Shuichi," Eichirou started. "I wouldn't really be surprised if you truly end up becoming the team's leader."

But all the photographer got was a frown from the biker. "What do you mean? You're the oldest among the five of us."

"He may be the oldest but his brain is more of a 10-year-old boy, if you ask me, Shuichi-san," Itsuki nonchalantly replied that made the two girls giggle. "Besides, does he look like a leader material to you?"

"Hey! That's already a foul, Itsu-chan!" Eichirou exclaimed.

And the usual cat-and-dog fight between Eichirou and Itsuki began once again. Misae and Erika could only shake their heads. Shuichi just scratched the back of his neck. Nanami and Hideoki only heaved heavy sighs.

This was surely going to be a long day.

 **xxxxxxxx**

It was only the first day of training and it felt like hell. Well, at least that's what Eichirou felt as he sat on one of the single seater sofa in the living room. As he looked around, he couldn't believe how it didn't bother his friends at all.

Shuichi was wiping his helmet as he tried his best to polish it. Itsuki was just sitting on the windowsill while reading another history book. Misae was replacing the string of her bow while Erika was busy reading a music sheet as she tried humming some of the notes.

"Still can't get over the fact that we're tortured on our first day of training, Eichirou-san?"

The said man looked up and saw Misae carrying her bow as she sat on the long sofa. He smiled and shrugged.

"Dad can be the strictest teacher of all when needed. We all know that. But this is the first time that he really pushed me to my limits. I can't believe it..." Eichirou sighed and slightly shook his head.

"But I can live with the fact that it's your Dad who's teaching us and not someone else."

Eichirou turned to Shuichi when he heard that. "What made you say that, Shuichi?"

Shuichi looked up from polishing his helmet and faced him. "Hideoki-san's someone we're already comfortable with. Nanami-san acted most of the time as a mother figure to us. Of course, you can't forget the fact that your father saved us that night and that he took care of us for the past ten years. He knew us better than anyone else—just as a caring parent would do."

All Eichirou could do as a response was to smile. Well, he didn't want to brag but his father really took care of them. Hideoki never treated Shuichi, Misae, Itsuki, and Erika any different than how the man treated Eichirou. It was something that all five of them was really grateful for.

The rest of the Vessels resumed their activities while Eichirou was still busy thinking of what else to do other than photography. He groaned. Come to think of it, he was supposed to finish the photo mosaic that he needed to submit for the photo exhibit two weeks from now. But with his mind going around like this, how in the world was he supposed to do his project now?

As they were all busy doing their own thing, Nanami appeared from the kitchen.

"Can any of you head to the grocery and buy something for me? I'm supposed to cook for you lunch but we're missing a few ingredients."

It didn't take long for Eichirou to decide on that. "I'll do it."

"Really? I thought you're tired," Itsuki remarked as he raised his head from the book he was reading.

"This is better than staying here wallowing about how Dad tortured us on our first day of training. I need to walk around and find a few inspirations here and there. I won't be able to start walking on my project if I'm like this."

Erika smiled when she faced Eichirou. "Good luck with that, then."

After that, Eichirou took the list from Nanami and left the house.

 **xxxxxxxx**

 _ **Tareus Dimension...**_

In the Great Hall of the Fortress of Screams, the Great Shadow Defenders once again gathered in front of Emperor Darshao. Only five of the seven were present, though. The leader's fury on the fact that the Seitengers' powers were revived in the bodies of young people that was hidden from the enemy's radar for the past ten years.

"Those brats should've been killed that night, as well!" Siriso growled as he clenched his clawed fist.

"Who would've thought that they could still use that much Hasureiki despite knowing the obvious that those chosen to become the new Seitengers are novices in the field?" Alvre remarked as she faced Siriso with a smirk. "And you, my dear General Siriso, lost to a bunch of novices. To think you're a warrior for 5,000 years... Have you lost your raging desire to kill them?"

The general didn't like the condescending tone that accompanied Alvre's words, at all. Out of anger and frustration, he unsheathed his sword and swung it to Alvre who managed to evade it with her speed. It only infuriated Siriso even more and Alvre was laughing at his behavior. The deed went on for about a minute or so.

It only stopped when the general and the assassin were thrown by a blast of dark energy. As the two struggled to get up, they saw the emperor's right palm facing them. They realized that it was Darshao who threw that attack to stop them.

"You're only making my head ache from your foolishness! And you call yourselves warriors for doing that?" In seconds, he cast an electric attack to the two thrown Shadow Defenders which caused them to scream in pain.

It went on for a few moments before Darshao immediately stopped and collapsed on his throne.

"Your Majesty!"

Orcus and Nemia attended to the emperor. Karkino approached the slightly weakened Siriso and Alvre.

"Save your squabbles to the Seitengers. We could use it more to defeat them," Karkino stated calmly.

Alvre looked up to the Lieutenant. "It's rare to see you calm in this kind of situation, Karkino."

The Lieutenant scoffed. "I'm saving my temper for dealing with those Seitenger brats. Not even the emperor would dare stop me if I decided to unleash my rage to them." He faced Siriso. "While the emperor sleeps, do your job outside the dimension. I think he collapsed because the negative emotions your Triske Monster gathered wasn't enough. Our ruler needs all the energy from those negative emotions. Of course, you know that we're after the energy of one particular emotion. That's why we're causing terror to the humans."

As much as Siriso hated being lectured and ordered to, he couldn't think of a retort. He knew that his fellow Shadow Defender was right.

"Gather hopelessness..." Siriso stood up and started walking away. "You got it. Though you must remember, humans are stubborn beings. The same goes for their hope."

As soon as Siriso got out of the Great Hall, he kicked the nearby wall with intensity because of his frustration. It was meant not only to the Seitengers revived but also to what Emperor Darshao did to him. He could care less about Alvre. She could die for all he cared.

Once he managed to calm himself down, he found a hidden spot where he could possibly concentrate. This time, he must do what it takes to win. By conjuring a rune circle in front of him, he began summoning a Triske Monster that would be perfect for the job.

The monster materialized after a few moments, its features blocked by the dark shadow that engulfed the area.

"Cyone... it's your chance. Appease my frustration. Do all that you can to destroy the Seitengers."

 **xxxxxxxx**

"Thank you so much!" Eichirou said to the cashier as he took the bags with his grocery items in it after paying the total amount. With that done, he went out of the grocery store.

He didn't have any trouble carrying two bags full of groceries. Ever since he was a child, he was always the strongest among his friends in terms of physical strength. Come to think of it, he didn't struggle too much in fighting the Gargonema that day. He was able to throw them away or beat them to the point of unconsciousness with just a few punches and kicks.

It looked like he was able to put his strength to good use.

If he would analyze his friends' strong points, he could say that they were really unique. Eichirou already knew his strong point was power. Shuichi was, no doubt, his leadership skills and perhaps even the brutality and ability to easily adapt to different situations as he had already observed. Itsuki was reading too many books ever since, so he knew the composer would surely become the brain of the team. Misae's strong points would be precision and control due to her training in archery. Maybe he could also add speed to that. Erika would be her strong will and calm mind no matter the gravity of the situation.

Eichirou just smiled as he thought of that. Why in the world did he begin thinking of such issues?

But all of a sudden, his smile faded as he stopped to his tracks. He looked around but found nothing unusual. And yet he couldn't shake off that weird feeling.

Until it hit him!

 _That's the same feeling I got when the Tareans first attacked!_

As soon as he realized that, he heard a familiar beeping sound. He put the grocery bags down on the nearby bench and saw his Celestial Shifter on his wrist. The lotus symbol on it was blinking.

"Not the Tareans again..." Eichirou could only mumble as he pushed a certain button on the side. It soon materialized a holographic screen displaying a map with a black dot blinking on one particular location in the city. "It's not far from here."

He took a deep breath, determined. Before he decided to head out, he saw a perfect place to hide his groceries since he doesn't want his Aunt Nanami to scold him for losing it. As soon as he secured it, he rushed toward the scene of attack.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Back at the Mizuhashi mansion, the other four Vessels were still busy doing their own thing. But almost all at once, they froze when they heard four familiar beepings and they could only come from one source.

"The Shifters!" all four of them exclaimed at the same time.

With that, each had focused on their respective Celestial Shifters. The lotus symbol on each of it was blinking. Shuichi pushed a button on the side of his Celestial Shifter and let it project a holographic screen that showed a larger version of the city map. Aside from one blinking black dot, he also saw a moving blue dot.

"Eichirou's already heading to the scene. We have to hurry, as well," Shuichi suggested.

The others nodded and they immediately left the house.

Nanami went out of the kitchen and she could only watch the closed door with concerned eyes.

"Good luck... and be careful, everyone."

 **xxxxxxxx**

Eichirou finally arrived at the scene of the attack as he panted. Well, he did run as fast as he could to reach the place. But he was surprised to see several people lying on the ground.

"What happened here?" he could only mutter.

He approached one of them and checked on it. He was relieved to know that they were only unconscious. But who in the world could have done this?

His question was answered upon hearing a thud, as if someone had collapsed. He looked around and saw a fish-headed and fully-scaled Triske Monster. Eichirou couldn't help scrunching his nose as he covered it. Sheesh! Even the smell around was like a full metal drum of dead stinking fishes!

"What kind of dead ocean did this fish monster come from?" It took him just a few moments to realize that he said that out loud. He clamped his mouth with his other hand. "I'm dead!"

Unfortunately for him, his words caught the Triske Monster's attention. The same goes to the Gargonema.

"Take his energy, scales!" The monster fireed a fish scale as large as a dinner plate toward Eichirou.

He managed to evade it and it hit a Gargonema that was about to attack him from the back. But he was surprised what the scale could do. Its size has a reason—the scale was large enough to cover one's face. So when that scale covered a human's face, it would send electric shock as it sucked human energy. The scale would disappear once its job was done, leaving an unconscious and helpless human behind.

The Gargonema that took the hit from the scale, however, was a different case. It was melting from the electric shock sent by that single fish scale.

"Oh, boy! Now I'm really dead," Eichirou said, only to himself. With that, he prepared himself for the next attack.

He saw the Triske Monster became enraged with what happened. "Gargonema, take him!"

Groups of Gargonema charged toward him but he braced himself for that. They all had swords and spears but Eichirou still managed to take them on one after another. At one point, he used one of the Gargonema's spear to defeat them all.

"How did you—?"

Eichirou exhaled and threw away the spear he used as soon as he eliminated the Gargonema attacking him. He soon faced the surprised Triske Monster. "You want to know how?"

He held out his arm with the Celestial Shifter placed on it that earned him a gasp from the monster.

"It can't be! You're—!"

"Introductions later. Let me do my thing first." He pushed the button on his Shifter needed for him to transform as soon as he placed the Heaven's Medallion on the slot. **"Spirit Shift, Start!"**

As soon as he finished reciting his transformation phrase, the sequence began. Seconds later, he donned his blue warrior suit together with his Hyakureider on the holster of his belt.

"Let's get on with it!" SeitenWater fought the approaching Gargonema with just his strength. He didn't even need to use his Hyakureider or even his Water Shark Spear to deal with them.

But he couldn't help thinking that something still felt wrong with what was happening.

Unknown to him, there was one person hiding in one of the nearby alley who was watching the battle. The surprised look on her face was evident as she continued watching.

"Eichirou..." was the only word Kanako could muster. But her voice held the faith she had for her friend to defeat the monster.

"Eichirou!"

"Eichirou-san!" SeitenWater turned to see the others—already in their Seitenger form—approaching him.

"Don't mind me. Go after the Triske Monster! Be careful with his scales, though." And he continued dealing with the Gargonema.

The others hurried to the Triske Monster Cyone's location. But before any of them could strike Cyone, the monster fired five fish scales to them that exploded soon after and struck them down.

"Everyone!" SeitenWater kicked the last Gargonema he was fighting as hard as he could before approaching his friends. "Are you alright?"

"What the hell was that?" SeitenEarth mumbled as he struggled to stand up.

"Definitely not a regular fish scale," SeitenWind stated.

"Be careful not to get hit with that fish scale on the face or your energies will be sucked with it."

SeitenFire chuckled. "That's why you said 'be careful with his scales'."

SeitenWater helped his friends stand up before they faced another group of Gargonema.

"Oh, come on! Do we really have to deal with these bone-faced soldiers again?" SeitenLight asked exasperatingly.

"No choice," SeitenEarth replied placidly as he took out his blade-extracted Hyakureider to fight the Gargonema.

"More humans, more energy... Have I gathered everyone's energy in this city?" Cyone muttered as he frantically scanned the area. Until— "There!"

SeitenEarth heard it that made him stop fighting the Gargonema and observe the Triske Monster. He was surprised to see where Cyone was heading to. "Kanako-san, get away from here!"

Of course, what the green warrior yelled had definitely caught SeitenWater's attention.

"Kana-chan!"

But it was too late for Kanako. Before she could start running away...

"You're mine!" Cyone fired a fish scale that turned into something elastic and covered Kanako's face.

All she could do was to scream in pain as electricity stunned Kanako's body and absorbed her energy at the same time. In anger, SeitenWater charged toward Cyone and attacked it with his Hyakureider; the blade was emanating a blue glow. But the monster blocked it as if it was nothing. Yet it didn't bother SeitenWater as he continued striking Cyone with all his rage and might.

Moments had passed. Kanako collapsed as soon as the fish scale that covered her face had disappeared. The other four Seitengers were just done eliminating the Gargonema and they rushed to the unconscious Kanako's side as they disintegrated their transformations.

"Kanako-san, hang in there!"

"Kanako!"

SeitenWater continued striking Cyone that pushed the Triske Monster into the corner. But before the blue warrior could deliver his final blow, a dark rune circle appeared beneath Cyone and absorbed the monster. He halted to a stop upon seeing that. The grip he had on his sword tightened.

"Kanako / Kanako-san!"

He was startled upon hearing that. When SeitenWater turned, he disabled his transformation and rushed to Kanako's side. He cradled the girl that Shuichi held and tried waking her up.

"Kana-chan, wake up! It's me, Eichirou," he called as he slightly tapped her cheek.

They noticed Kanako's eyes slowly fluttered open as she let out a moan. But it didn't take them long before they figured out that Kanako was struggling because of the immense loss of energy.

"Are you okay?" Eichirou queried with worries.

Kanako smiled weakly. "I can't believe it... Eichirou is... one of the chosen Vessels..."

The Vessels all had a surprised looks on their faces when they heard that.

"Y-you know about it, Kana-chan?"

In the same weak manner, Kanako nodded. "I'm glad..." After that, she fully lost consciousness.

Eichirou tried waking her up but to no avail. Soon after, Itsuki noticed Eichirou clenching his fist as he carried the girl's body.

Moments later, Shuichi and Misae assisted Eichirou as the latter started walking away. Erika stopped when she noticed her brother intently looking at the photographer's walking figure.

"Is there something wrong, Onii-chan?" To be honest, she wasn't really comfortable seeing her older brother like this.

Itsuki sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's go."

 **xxxxxxxx**

At Mizuhashi mansion, the two adults became slightly frantic upon seeing the Vessels came home with an unconscious Kanako on Eichirou's arms. They put her in one of the spare rooms and let her rest there while Hideoki and Nanami tried to find a way to heal her.

As the two adults did so, all the Vessels could do was to watch. In some ways, it was frustrating them. They truly wanted to help but they didn't know how. More than that, it was surprising for them to learn that Kanako knew about the Vessels.

How did that happen?

But for Eichirou, that fact wasn't the only thing that worried him. He didn't know that, even if he doesn't say anything, Itsuki's observation on his movements was enough for the younger boy to realize what exactly was bothering Eichirou.

"Is she going to be alright, Hideoki-san?" Misae queried hopefully as she approached the said man.

"Thankfully, she wasn't injured. Only her energy was taken. A long rest is all she needed. But just to be sure—" he paused and faced the young archer. "—why don't you heal her, Misae?"

Of course, what Hideoki said had surprised not only Misae but also the other Vessels.

"Me? Heal her? I can't do that! I don't even know how."

"You can, Misae. From your training a while back, I managed to observe your abilities awakened in each of you," Nanami informed with a smile. "Just by looking at the ball of Hasureiki you summoned earlier during your training, I learned of your healing powers using the combination of your Hasureiki and your wind powers."

Though still feeling a bit hesitant, Misae knew that there was no way Nanami would lie to her about her abilities. Besides, she also had to heal a friend. And if she truly had the ability to heal, she might as well try doing it.

But before she could start, the sound of the door suddenly opening startled her. They all turned around to know who did that.

"Akira-kun! Natsume-kun!" Erika exclaimed but later frowned. "What are you two doing here?"

"We heard about what happened at the city. A total of 47 people, including Kanako-san, fell victim from Cyone's scales. The paramedics took them to the nearby hospitals to recover," Akira, the son of Nanami, informed as he watched his friend Natsume approached the unconscious Kanako that Misae was trying to heal.

"Cyone? That's the Triske Monster's name?"

Akira nodded as a response to Shuichi's question. "He was listed in the old records of Triske Monsters created during the ancient times. Though if you would ask me, I'm still surprised as to how someone managed to get ahold of those records."

"Kanako-nee, can you hear me? It's me, Natsume." The 18-year-old friend of Akira and cousin of Kanako could only say as he tried to call out to the girl.

"Cyone really got her. It must have took a great deal of energy from Kanako-san," Erika muttered.

Silence surrounded the room for a few moments. At that time, Itsuki remembered something. "Natsume, does this mean you knew about the Vessels, as well?"

The said boy faced the composer and nodded somberly. "Kanako-nee and I knew about it for a long time now. Her father told us about it when we were still kids."

Could that be the reason why Kanako stayed by Eichirou's side all this time?

"But we didn't know that you guys are the chosen Vessels up until now," Natsume continued. "We were only told that even though the previous Vessels lost their powers during the great battle, we still had to do our best to support the next chosen Vessels—whoever they might be. It is our duty to support the Vessels with all we got, after all."

None of them could say anything after hearing all that. Seriously, who would've thought that the people they knew all this time would have a great connection to the Vessels that Shuichi, Eichirou, Itsuki, Misae, and Erika had become?

Misae heaved a deep breath and did her best to heal Kanako. Just as she was told during the training, she just needed to concentrate her Hasureiki on one point in order for her to achieve the result she wanted. With that, she placed her hand right above Kanako's chest and almost immediately, yellow glow surrounded her hand.

Please... Help me heal my friend. Help me heal the person that is special to Eichirou-san. Misae doesn't know to whom she was praying to, but she hoped someone would hear it so she could do her job well.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Cyone filled the gigantic statue of Emperor Darshao with the energies he collected from the humans earlier. The stone sword that served as a measuring device lighted out but only for a few seconds. The light raged on for just a few seconds and revealed that only a sixth portion of the sword—from the tip of the blade going up—remained lighted.

It only meant that the energies collected only filled a sixth part of the statue.

"This is amazing, Cyone... but definitely not enough. His Majesty needs more than just this. We also need the energy and this amount could only sustain two of the Shadow Defenders," Karkino stated as he remained eyeing the statue.

"Of course, Liutenant, I know that. But I didn't even say that I'm done collecting energies and negative emotions," Cyone responded as he bowed. "I'm also doing this to appease Siriso-sama's rage. He'd make sure to see the end of the Vessels once and for all."

But all Cyone got as a reply to that was a scornful scoff. It didn't seem to bother the Triske Monster as he left the Great Hall.

"See the end of the Vessels? With that puny skills? We'll see about that." Through Karkino's words alone, one would truly think the said Lieutenant doubted if it would happen anytime soon. They must not underestimate the Vessels. After all, Hideoki was the one guiding those kids.

And they knew how formidable Hideoki could be.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Kanako felt she was knocked out really bad as she opened her eyes. Another darkness greeted her as she looked around. At the same time, she knew she wasn't in her room at her house at all. The four-poster bed alone proved it. She usually sleep in a futon.

Then where the hell was she?

It took a few moments before her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness around her. She later saw a shaft of dim light, probably coming from outside. The moon, perhaps?

Come to think of it, it was supposed to be full moon at around 11 PM on that particular date.

"How long have I been asleep?" Kanako mumbled as she sighed.

She was supposed to rise from her bed when she felt something that was placed on her left hand. When she looked to her side, her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her. Despite the extremely dim light, it was more than enough to let her know who was holding her hand.

"Eichirou..."

Kanako didn't know what to do or even what to say. How long had this man been asleep and holding her hand like that? He was sitting on a small chair with his head on his right arm placed beside her left hand that he was holding.

She couldn't help smiling at the sight as soon as she recovered from the surprise she felt. This kind of thing doesn't happen everyday and she knew that.

Then she recalled the events that made her lose consciousness. That's right... She remembered how Eichirou dealt with the Gargonema all by himself and how he transformed into SeitenWater. It was true that she wasn't oblivious to the legend and existence of the Vessels chosen to bear the powers of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians. In fact, her father said that it was important for her and her cousin Natsume to know that.

She believed the story since she had seen at least a few proof and documentations. But she never realized that she would be able to witness someone actually become a Seitenger in front of her. And it was her friend and photography mentor Mizuhashi Eichirou, at that.

But she witnessed it at a worst time.

Who would've thought that she would personally see a Triske Monster or even a group of Gargonema? Now she knew it was right for her to believe her father's story about the Vessels and the Tareans.

Upon learning that her friend was among the Vessels, she had this urging feeling that she would do what it takes for her to help them. It was just a question on how she'd do that, though.

"Hmm..."

That sound startled Kanako and disrupted her musings. But it was okay. She knew the sound came from Eichirou. And it looked like he was waking up. She didn't know what came over her to decide on closing her eyes again and pretend to sleep some more. But she still did it.

She felt Eichirou's hold on her hand tightened, but still with the hint of gentleness. She heard him sigh heavily, as if burdened. It made her frown—albeit inwardly. What in the world was going on?

"I'm really sorry, Kanako," she heard Eichirou said softly. Yes, it was said sincerely but something felt more to it.

A feeling of regret somehow accompanied his voice as he said those words. And to think he didn't say her nickname...

Somehow, she didn't like the feeling at all.

Another heavy sigh from Eichirou before he let go of her hand as he placed it on the bed. Kanako heard footsteps that seemed like walking away. It ended with the sound of opening and closing of the door.

That was when Kanako opened her eyes.

What had just happened?

 **xxxxxxxx**

The next day, Itsuki woke up earlier than the others since it was his turn to cook breakfast for everyone in the mansion. Besides, he couldn't actually go back to sleep after waking up an hour before. Well, he had to blame it to another weird dream of his.

Seriously, why does he had to dream of that girl again? But this time, his dream about the mysteriously girl was a little different. She was trying to tell her something, but it wasn't about being reborn or something similar that she'd usually say. At least, Itsuki could tell that much.

But before he could even determine her words, he woke up suddenly which somehow left him puzzled and slightly frustrated.

Itsuki shrugged the thought off of his mind for now. Everyone's breakfast should be prepared by the time he would wake them up at 7. At the Mizuhashi mansion, everyone had a scheduled task to cook and do various household chores. It started ever since Itsuki and the others were saved from the hotel fire and were taken to live under Hideoki's care. As years passed, each of them finally got accustomed of their lives there. In fact, each of the Vessels learned how to cook foods that it also allowed them to discover their specialties. And once they passed Hideoki's esteemed tongue, they were also served at his family restaurant since they were also helping there when they had free time.

Itsuki finished preparing the necessary ingredients when he saw Kanako coming down the stairs and entering the kitchen. He frowned at the sight of her dejected state.

I wonder what happened... Itsuki thought before he started cooking.

"Good morning, Itsuki-kun," Kanako greeted but the sadness in her tone was evident.

The composer faced Kanako and slightly smiled. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

The girl nodded and sat on one of the chairs of the kitchen table. "You're early."

"It's my turn to cook everyone's breakfast. I should be saying the same thing to you. You shouldn't have force yourself to get up yet. Even though Misae-san healed you, it's better if you shouldn't force yourself for a while," Itsuki said placidly as he was busy in front of the stove. "Besides, Eichirou-san would've thrown a fit if he finds you gone from your bed."

"He left," was Kanako's abrupt words, as if forced out of her throat.

Of course, those words stiffened Itsuki somehow and made him face Kanako. The same dejected look was still there and he could tell that it got worst when she said those words. "W-what do you mean?"

"He woke up a few moments after I did. I had no idea what was on his mind the moment he apologized to me in my sleep. It appeared as if... he was really burdened with something. After that, he left the room." Soon after, Kanako sighed. "I'm sorry, Itsuki-kun. I shouldn't be saying this to you. It's just that—"

Itsuki shook his head. "It's okay. At least I know now." At that point, he could already tell what was going on with Eichirou for him to act like that. In fact, he already had a guess about it since the time that Cyone attacked Kanako. From Eichirou's expressions and reactions alone, everything was crystal clear. "Did you check his room? Maybe he was just there, trying to think about something."

"No, he's not. If he did leave the mansion, he left without us knowing," Shuichi said as he entered the kitchen.

"Shuichi-san!"

"Sometimes, I don't really know what's going on with Eichirou. He rarely leaves the house unannounced, especially to Hideoki-san."

After that, Shuichi sat beside Kanako and inquired about how she was feeling. The girl didn't lie, though. She said that it was already fine but was sad about Eichirou's actions. Itsuki just listened to the conversation as he resumed his cooking duty.

It wasn't long before Misae and Erika woke up, as well. When asked as to why the two girls woke up earlier than usual, they only said that they couldn't go back to sleep knowing that Kanako was unwell and that Eichirou decided to disappear just like that. But Itsuki could tell that the photographer hadn't gone far. At least, he could tell from the way he sensed the energy of the earth. Just like Misae's healing powers using the wind, he was able to determine his powers, as well.

For one, Itsuki's power was inclined to the element of the earth. And because of that, he could use the earth as an extension of his senses. He used that ability in order for him to determine Eichirou's location even without the help of the older man's Celestial Shifter.

And now, all Itsuki had to do was to find Eichirou and talk to him. Though he wasn't actually the type of guy who initiates a serious conversation, this time he had to. He had to do something in order to let Eichirou realize at least a part of the truth about their duties as the chosen Vessels.

But before that...

Itsuki was done cooking when he faced Kanako who was talking to Shuichi and Misae. "Kanako-san, after this, can you tell us everything you know about the Vessels?"

The girl eyed the composer for a few tense moments before sighing. "I guess Natsume-kun mentioned it to you."

The others nodded as a response.

"Is it okay if you do that, Kanako-san? You see, we're kind of novices when it comes to becoming Vessels since everything hit us pretty suddenly," Erika said with a sheepish smile.

"I can see that. Don't worry. Since I've been informed about the Vessels since I was a kid, and that I would be one of the people meant to support you guys, I might as well do what I can to help."

 **xxxxxxxx**

Having breakfast during that time proved to be a little... different to the other Vessels. Hideoki and Nanami were rather impassive about the atmosphere but the others knew their mentors felt the same difference—not to mention the same melancholy and tension—hovering around.

And to be honest, it was rather frustrating for them.

"I guess everything's quite different without Eichirou around during meal time," Shuichi commented before he began munching his food.

"Yeah. I mean, this is the first time that our breakfast time felt so gloomy," Misae added. "I kind of miss his energetic self at times like this."

"Well, the sooner we find a way to settle this and learn everything that we have to know, the faster that all of this will be over," Erika stated as she continued eating. "We just have to figure out how."

During this, it was evident that Kanako was quiet and appeared to have lost her appetite. Shuichi sighed and faced the girl.

"Kanako, if you truly wanted to help us clear things with Eichirou, you got to have the energy. You've barely touched your food."

The girl was startled as she noticed the Vessels' stares at her. Kanako smiled but it didn't actually reached her eyes. "I'm just worried."

"You children better finish your foods first," Hideoki said, speaking for the first time. "As soon as Kanako-chan managed to explain everything to you, that's when we'll decide on what to do with Eichirou. It wouldn't be too hard to track him, though."

"But Eichirou-san didn't bring his Shifter. How are we going to find him without it?"

"That won't be a problem," Itsuki said in response to his sister's inquiry. "Our Shifters weren't merely designed to track down the Hasureiki from our Heaven's Medallions. It's also meant to track the chosen Vessels possessing Hasureiki inside of them, though I believe it wouldn't be as strong as that of the Hasureiki emanated by the Medallions."

The others looked at Itsuki in surprise. How in the world did he manage to learn the Shifters' function in such a short time? The composer soon noticed the confused stares his friends were giving him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" But before Itsuki could allow them to answer, it didn't take him long to finally realize the reason for that. "I asked Nanami-san if she has reference materials, scrolls or books, containing information with regards to our Shifters or any of the transformation devices used by the previous Vessels to transform into Seitengers. I decided to read all that so I could understand its functions more."

"Well, before you tell your discoveries, I suggest you all finish your food first. Eichirou isn't our only problem. Cyone might start attacking again since he didn't take enough energy from the humans the last time," Nanami said.

The rest agreed, but it was still obvious that their minds started to become preoccupied with various curiosities regarding Itsuki's and Kanako's information. A few minutes more had passed before they finally finished their breakfast. It was a good thing that Kanako managed to finish her food despite the obvious loss of appetite.

After everything was settled, the four remaining Vessels, Kanako, Nanami, and Hideoki gathered in the living room.

"The reason why I was made to learn the truth about the Vessels and everything related to them was because... my father is a descendant of the Vessel of the Heavenly Wind Spirit Guardian's Power from 180 years ago," Kanako started which gave surprise to those who was listening to her, of course.

"The Heavenly Wind Spirit Guardian? Then that must mean—"

The novice photographer shook her head. "Though I am considered a descendant of that chosen Vessel, as well, I don't possess Hasureiki like you guys do."

"That's not necessarily true, Kanako-chan," Nanami suddenly said.

Kanako frowned at that. "What do you mean, Nanami-san?"

"There has been a rule about people who were granted access to learn their lineage with regards to the descendants of the chosen Vessels. No person without Hasureiki is allowed to learn the truth about the Vessels," Nanami answered. "Your father allowing you and Natsume-kun to know more about the Vessels proved that both of you possessed at least a small amount of your ancestor's Hasureiki, only manifesting in the form that alters your DNA and allows you to achieve knowledge and skills beyond that of an average man."

"You mean... like our talents in certain fields?" Erika queried in which the woman answered with a grave nod. "But... Kanako-san is still considered a novice in photography. Arts is something I could say as Eichirou-san's field, only manifesting in his photography skills."

"Now I get it..." Kanako mumbled and showed a small smile of understanding. "That's why I was able to catch up easily with Dad's teachings, definitely faster than a normal student would."

"What are you talking about, Kanako-san?" Itsuki asked with a frown. But it didn't take him long to realize the meaning her words. "Wait a minute... Your father is an inventor, right?"

"A scientist, to be more precise. Natsume and I became immediately interested in my father's works that we decided to learn from him. Some of his inventions were powerful weapons used by the previous Vessels before they lost their powers 25 years ago."

"Does that mean you and your cousin became a part of your father's team that will support the current Seitengers?"

Kanako nodded. "You could say that. My father taught me everything he knew about the Vessels and more. But I never thought that you guys were chosen to become the Seitengers. That's why I never told you anything about what I know."

The discussion continued and Kanako proceeded to explain to the Vessels about their duty and identity. The role of being Seitengers wasn't exactly something that anyone could inherit by blood. The powers themselves that originally came from the Heavenly Spirit Guardians were the ones choosing the Vessels' successors. That was the reason why the Vessels were originally scattered before gathering to do their missions and fend off the Tareans trying to escape from the Tareus Dimension. When the mission was over, and the Vessels could feel that it was about time to find people who would succeed them, a larger part of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers would leave their bodies. The remaining portion was something that their descendants could inherit if deemed worthy of possessing them. That certain portion of the aforementioned power was the culprit that caused the DNA alteration of the chosen descendants.

"Then that means we were already descendants of the Vessels from a long time ago even before we were chosen to become the new Vessels," Misae commented as she recovered. "Or at least, our parents must have been the descendants. I mean, many people already said that they were geniuses in their respective fields even at a young age. They even said that they were taking the world by storm with their talents."

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Now I know that we got these talents for a reason," Erika stated. "That only proves that Kanako-san is somehow destined to be friends with Eichirou-san."

"But then that Eichirou decided to play hide-and-seek," Shuichi took a deep breath. "I wonder what that guy's thinking..."

Itsuki already knew the answer to that, only he decided not to mention anything just until the situation was clear. With that, he stood up from the sofa that somewhat startled the others.

"What's wrong, Onii-chan?"

"I'll be going out for a while. I need to think of what to do next time that Cyone showed up." Before he could allow the others to reply, Itsuki left a notebook on the coffee table and stared at Shuichi. "Study the information on that notebook. We'll be needing it on our battle with Cyone," he said before hurriedly leaving the mansion with only one goal—to find Eichirou and knock some sense into that man's brain in his own Itsuki way.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Well, the man Itsuki was looking for happened to be wandering quite aimlessly along the seaside—which, of course, had been Eichirou's most beloved place since his mother's death. He needed to stay there, to think of things that he needed to do. He had to come up with a decision before a Triske Monster decided to ruin his day once more.

But seriously, he couldn't get his mind quite straight at this point. Not when he was worried about a certain woman's safety more than anything else.

Mom, please tell me how would you want me to do things like protecting Kanako. It was a request that really made Eichirou quite distressed. His worry for Kanako was something he knew wouldn't easily be washed away by the sound of the sea water. Nor could it be blown by the sea breeze.

But in a way, he trusted the sea to at least help him. That way, he would know that his mother was listening to him, at the very least.

"You're really connected to the waters, huh? No wonder you were chosen to become SeitenWater."

Eichirou stiffened as soon as he heard that, but only for a few moments. He faced the speaker as he turned sharply, only to see Itsuki standing a few feet away from where he was sitting. "Itsu-chan..." How in the world...?

"You're still standing on sand so that has made it easy for me to know where you are even without your Shifter." Itsuki started approaching Eichirou and sat on the sand just a few feet beside him.

"I'm worst, aren't I?" Eichirou mumbled as he looked at the sea once more. "Becoming a Seitenger... I never realized that by accepting that, I would put everyone in danger."

No words came from Itsuki but the photographer could tell that the boy was looking at him. Weird enough, just by allowing Itsuki to do so had calmed Eichirou somehow. It was like he could confide his worries to the boy, especially at the moment that he was thinking of ways to protect Kanako without actually involving her in his duties as a Seitenger. And yet he knew, it was somewhat impossible given the fact that Kanako already knew some information about the Vessels.

"So in other words, you're scared... that everyone close to you will get hurt because of the duty you've accepted," Itsuki stated placidly before sighing. "But you know what, Eichirou-san, you chose to accept that duty in order for us to keep everyone safe from the danger that the Tareans could bring to them. The reason you're like this right now is because it didn't come to you that our enemies would be hurting someone close to us. And Kanako-san, at that..."

Though Eichirou hated to admit it, Itsuki was right on that point. He couldn't help feeling useless because Kanako got hurt while he was fighting Cyone. And now that she had a knowledge about his duty as the current Vessel of the Heavenly Water Spirit Guardian's Power, preventing Kanako from getting hurt because of what she knew would be a little bit hard. Not to mention that Kanako was a hard-headed and a determined woman, if one would ask Eichirou. They were childhood friends, after all. At least he knew that.

"It's like you're saying that I can't do anything about Kanako getting involved with our activities as Seitengers other than accepting her decisions. And knowing her... She could be stubborn as I am," Eichirou said with a sigh.

"Just like Erika..." Itsuki muttered that caught Eichirou's attention.

"Itsu-chan... Could it be that—?"

The composer smiled but with hints of sadness. "That's how I figured it out, Eichirou-san. That's how I realized your fears for Kanako-san. But girls can seriously be stubborn. I don't want my sister to get involved with anything related to the Vessels. But to be more precise, I just don't want her to be involved in anything that would endanger her. And yet she insisted that she would never realize her true capabilities if I continue shielding her from what we're meant to do. At that point, I can't do anything for her other than to watch over her and protect her as she do her best."

At that point, Itsuki faced Eichirou who had been watching him intently as he told his reasons.

"The more we fear for the safety of the people we care about, the more we gain the strength and courage to protect them so that they wouldn't get hurt. Or worse, killed. Use that fear that you have for Kanako-san's safety and turn it into something that will give you the strength to protect her. That, for one thing, was something I learned when I decided to accept my sister's decision to become a Seitenger despite the danger we're obviously going to face."

Eichirou couldn't help but to smile at Itsuki's statement. It wasn't rare for him and Itsuki to have conversations like the one they were having at the moment. But this was one of the few times that Itsuki had openly admitted his fears—one that was directed to Hoshiyama Erika. He doesn't have a sister so he couldn't relate to Itsuki that much. But he and the composer had one thing in common.

The reason for their fears to exist happened to be the people they treasured more than anyone in the world. But they were also the same reason why they were fighting this hard. Yes, the battle had only began for them as Seitengers. But they also needed to have reasons to continue fighting. Right now, maybe it was just Erika or Kanako. Maybe they could include their teammates and their mentors. And as they go one, they would surely meet other people—find other ideas and reasons—that would propel them to continue their duties.

"I guess I'd be dealing with Kana-chan's stubbornness more often if I allowed her to become a part of our duties," the photographer later commented and soon chuckled at his words. He faced Itsuki with a smile that showed relief. "Thank you, Itsu-chan."

"We are friends... We have been like that for the past ten years. And right now, we're also a team. A sentai. But that idea was something that Shuichi-san would usually think." Itsuki chuckled, at that.

Eichirou couldn't help but to agree. The moment they'd accepted their duties as Seitengers, they'd already became a part of a sentai.

Utsuwa Sentai, huh? Yup, that was seriously what Shuichi would think about their new formal team. They were called Vessels, after all.

And right now, the five of them who were the current Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers formed the Utsuwa Sentai... just as their predecessors had done before.

Eichirou could only hoped that he and his friends could do their jobs properly if they wanted to succeed.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Simultaneous explosions destroyed the buildings that disrupted the city's peace that very same day. People could be seen running for their lives as they screamed. It wasn't only because of the ongoing chaos that delivered immense fear to the humans. But also because of the mastermind behind the chaos.

This time, Cyone destroyed the nearby establishments and buildings as the Gargonema scoured around the area to round up the humans trying to escape. Once a group was formed, the Triske Monster immediately sucked their energies as he fired elastic fish scales right to their faces one after another.

"More! More! More humans!" Cyone continued shouting as he cackled while watching the captured humans scream in pain and struggled to escape but to no avail.

The scenario went on pretty fast that the damage and the number of victims had escalated compared to the previous attack. Cyone continued gather energies even from the humans that the Gargonema rounded up.

"Siriso-sama will be pleased," the Triske Monster mumbled as he felt the gathered energy build up steadily. "Come out, Seitengers!"

That growl resonated throughout the city followed by another evil laugh that stood out even from the escaping humans' screams and the explosions.

 **xxxxxxxx**

The continuous beeping of the Celestial Shifters that were in Itsuki's pocket alerted both Eichirou and Itsuki. The echoing evil laugh soon heightened their worries and made them realize what was going on.

"Cyone!"

Both of them turned on their Celestial Shifters after Itsuki handed over Eichirou's that projected holographic screens. The screen from Itsuki's Shifter projected images from where the Triske Monster was attacking. While the one from Eichirou's Shifter revealed a map revealing the exact location of the ongoing attack.

"That monster's fast. We have to stop him before the damage escalates to the worst point," Itsuki suggested as he closed the device.

Eichirou nodded once with full of determination. But before they began leaving the place, he recalled something. "Itsu-chan, I have an idea. But I'm going to need your help."

"If it will help us return the stolen energies back to the victims, then I'm with you on that."

With that, Eichirou laid out his plan to Itsuki as he told the composer his observations during their last encounter with Cyone.

Despite being the brainy one, Itsuki let Eichirou take the lead in strategizing this time. Well, calculating the probability of their victory, he knew the laid-out plan would work.

They had to make it work.

 **xxxxxxxx**

The discussion at the Mizuhashi mansion was still ongoing as the rest of the Vessels still listened to Kanako's explanation and studying the notes written on the notebook that Itsuki gave to them. They were surprised, without a doubt, that the composer managed to list down information with regards to their Hyakureider and its possible functions.

They were immensely engrossed to reading the contents when it was rudely interrupted upon hearing their Celestial Shifters beeped. The sound startled them but it wasn't for long. They immediately turned on their Shifters. Soon after, each of the Vessels' Shifters projected holographic screens which enabled them to see the situation.

Shuichi clenched his fist at the sight of the people trying to flee from Cyone and the Gargonema which was played on the projected screen. Misae's worries escalated upon seeing the unconscious humans on her screen. Erika's Shifter projected a holographic map in order for her to locate the exact point of the scene of attack. After that, they dematerialized the screens and faced each other.

"Let's go."

Determined nods were all that Shuichi need for him to realize that Misae and Erika were on the same league as he does.

"I can't believe we're doing this again," he couldn't help murmuring as he faced the two girls.

Misae smiled as she tapped Shuichi's shoulder. "We've already chosen to do this, Shuichi. It's true that there are still things we needed to clear about our choice with regards to becoming a Seitenger. But we can learn them as we go on. We'll be fine."

"Besides, it's not as if we're going to let those Tareans destroy the world that even our parents had protected for our sakes. That's why they saved us that night, right? They knew we're meant to do this," Erika added.

"Now it's just a matter of choice whether or not we're going to fulfill this task that lies on the path that we're meant to take."

Misae and Erika nodded as a response to Shuichi's statement.

"But that didn't stop you, right? If that's the case, we need to head out. Itsuki and Eichirou will be needing our help." With that, the three Vessels immediately headed out.

Yet before they could even get out of the gate, they heard Kanako called out to them. They turned to see the said young woman approaching them.

"Kanako, you should stay inside. You still need to rest," Shuichi said with concern.

Kanako heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Not this time. Besides, until now, I've been trained to be prepared for this day. I've been trained to help the Vessels with their battles. That's what I'm trying to do now."

The 3 youths frowned at the girl's statement. Kanako spoke again before they could even ask her about it. "I'll guide you during your battle with Cyone. You just have to remember one thing that will surely help you win this battle or even those that is about to come."

With that statement, they listened to Kanako as she stated her point behind her words.

 **xxxxxxxx**

Itsuki and Eichirou arrived at the scene of the attack first. They were horrified at the sight of the unconscious victims and a few others trying to flee. The number of casualties were even greater than the last time. As one of the Gargonema tried to hit a little girl and his brother, the two Vessels rushed to their aid and fought the creatures out of the way.

"You go ahead. We'll handle it from here, okay?" Itsuki said reassuringly to the young boy. He smiled at the sight of the little girl looking worriedly and frightened at him. Then he faced the young boy once more. "Protect her, okay? Even if you're scared, I know you'll be able to protect her."

Though confused at the young man's reason for saying that to him, the young boy somehow understood what it meant. He nodded with determination evident in his eyes. But soon after, his eyes widened at the sight of the skeleton creature that was about to strike his savior from behind.

"Watch out! Behind you!"

Itsuki didn't have to turn around to deal with the Gargonema. All he did was to extract the blade of his Hyakureider to stab it on its stomach. He soon noticed four more Gargonema coming at him and the two frightened kids. The composer only dealt with it by firing energy beams towards the enemies from the bladeless end of his cylindrical weapon. After taking them all down, he faced the kids. "Go! We'll make sure they won't chase after you."

The two kids heeded Itsuki's words and fled the place. After that, Itsuki saw Eichirou easily dealing with the Gargonema with just the older Vessel's strength. The composer wasn't surprised at the sight, though. He knew even before that Eichirou's strength was something that the man was proud of. He soon focused himself on dealing with the other Gargonema using his Hyakureider.

But the two Vessels didn't anticipate the attack that Cyone sent to them. Two scales almost covered their faces which they managed to evade. However, those scales soon exploded as soon as it hit the ground in which the resulting blast threw them away.

Eichirou raised his head only to see Cyone laughing at the sight of them already hurt because of the explosion.

"I'm really starting to hate this fish head whenever he laughs like that," Eichirou muttered as he braced himself to rise up. Itsuki grunted in agreement and followed suit.

"What's wrong, puny Vessels? Can't take a hit on me?" Cyone mockingly laughed once more. "You're nothing like Siriso-sama had said. I'm even wondering how those puny skills of yours managed to defeat Juman."

"Well, I guess I can understand why you were created as a fish. Even your words stink," Itsuki retorted icily.

Of course, it was expected to send Cyone in a fit of rage almost easily. "What did you say?!"

"And I think your stinkiness made you deaf, as well," Itsuki added rather calmly. Soon after, he smirked. "Hey, Eichirou-san... Why don't we show this stinky fish head how our puny skills works on cleaning his dirty mouth?"

Eichirou wasn't surprised at the suggestion. He sighed and helped Itsuki stand up despite the pain from the injuries they received from the explosion. "I'll be glad to be of assistance to you on that."

"Well, don't leave us behind if you're serious about doing that."

The two boys turned around to the direction where the voice came from. They smiled at the sight of Shuichi, Misae, and Erika approaching them.

"Seriously, Eichirou... Will you please stop acting weird every time?"

The said man frowned and cocked his head to one side at Shuichi's words. "What do you mean?"

Misae smiled and slightly shook her head. "I think he means don't decide to disappear without even informing us. If you have a problem that truly bothers you, you can tell it to us. We've been doing that for ten years now. It won't make any difference if you still do that now that we're chosen to become Seitengers."

A sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head was the reply the archer got from Eichirou. "Sorry for that, Mi-chan."

"We're used to see you acting childish than the rest of us almost all the time, Eichirou-san," Erika said with a grin. "We like you best trying to lighten up the serious atmosphere around us. If there's something that makes you sad or disturbed, tell it to us so that we'll try our best to help you out. Okay?"

Eichirou couldn't believe what he had just heard. To be honest, he wanted to cry. But maybe he could do that later. "Eri-chan..."

"We're not just friends, Eichirou. We're also a team, especially now that Hideoki-san told us the path that we have chosen to take," Shuichi added with a smile.

Though surprised, Itsuki and Eichirou faced each other with an 'I-told-you-so' look on their expressions. Soon after, they nodded in determination and agreement.

But the short moment was interrupted with a growl coming from Cyone. Obviously, the Triske Monster didn't like the atmosphere hovering around the Vessels. The monster fired more scales toward the team. Eichirou deflected it all with his Hyakureider.

"I guess our opponent wants some of our attention, as well," Itsuki commented in a condescending tone.

"Then why don't we give our attention to him, Onii-chan?" Erika said as she went along with her brother's words.

The rest positioned themselves as they prepared to fight.

"Why not? We'll have to make that fish pay for what he did to Kanako-chan and the others, after all," Misae responded.

"Well, that's what we have to do now," Eichirou added.

The Vessels flipped their Celestial Shifters open. "Let's go!"

With that command from Shuichi, the Vessels' fight began.

 **"Spirit Shift, Start!"**

As soon as they recited their transformation phrases, the five of them began transforming into Seitengers armed with their Hyakureiders. Shuichi, Eichirou, Itsuki, Misae, and Erika's Celestial Shifters allowed them to transform into SeitenFire, SeitenWater, SeitenEarth, SeitenWind, and SeitenLight respectively.

Just as before when the Vessels transformed for the first time, the Tareans were flabbergasted yet alert at the same time.

"So what Siriso-sama told me was the truth," Cyone uttered in slight disbelief but soon prepared himself. "The Seitengers came back."

 **"Heaven's Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!"**

 **"The Hundred Heavens' greatest victory! Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger!"**

As soon as it was done, Cyone was laughing maniacally at the sight. "Now this is going to be so much fun!" Without warning, he fired larger version of the energy-sucking scales towards the Seitengers who still managed to evade it. The scales exploded as soon as it hit the ground.

The Seitengers used the rage of blast from the explosion to begin their counterattack. Upon summoning their respective Vessel Medallions (Heaven Lion, Heaven Shark, Heaven Tiger, Heaven Falcon, and Heaven Dove), they placed it into a slot of their Hyakureiders. One of the bladeless end of their sidearms glowed with their respective elemental colors. They pointed it to the scrambling Gargonema trying to find they way out of the smoke from the explosion.

 **"Hyakurei Laser!"** the five Seitengers recited in unison.

Silhouettes of heads of the lion, shark, tiger, falcon, and dove was formed from the glow of their weapon before pushing the yellow button and shouting the command **"Shoot!"** Rapid laser beams were shot from the Hyakureider which eliminated almost all of the Gargonema and somewhat weakened Cyone since the Triske Monster was hit with the beams, as well.

"Let's do this!"

Each of the Seitengers extracted the blades of their Hyakureider and started fighting the remaining Gargonema. Or clearly, it was SeitenEarth, SeitenWind, and SeitenLight who dealt with the creatures.

"We'll handle the Gargonema. Just go and deal with Cyone before that monster start throwing scales again," SeitenEarth instructed, especially to SeitenWater that SeitenFire couldn't help agreeing.

Eichirou was the one who should deal with Cyone, after all. And Shuichi thought that, as SeitenFire, he would support SeitenWater as the water warrior deal with the monster.

With that, SeitenEarth began slashing Gargonema coming at him with their swords and spears which he still managed to block and evade. "You got to be quicker than that if you really want to defeat me." He was able to block and deflect two swords that was about to strike him. Soon after, he pushed one of the five buttons that encircled the Hyakureider which was colored green. The blade of his sidearm glowed as leaf silhouettes surrounded it.

 **"Tremulous Power! Heaven's Rumbling Land Strike!"**

As SeitenEarth delivered the said sword attack, the Gargonema he was fighting exploded to bits just like that. "Good thing I studied the use of this weapon."

Meanwhile, SeitenWind was dealing with her own batch of Gargonema that kept on coming which of course had irritated her. Her irritation somehow made her able to easily destroy the enemies. It appeared she was putting too much force with each of her strike.

"This will finish you off easily." As she said that, she pushed the green button of her Hyakureider. Her weapon emanated a yellow glow as gust of wind appeared to surround the blade. **"Howling Power! Heaven's Turbulent Wind Strike!"**

With that attack, SeitenWind was able to eliminate her remaining opponents without a problem. "I guess holding other weapons aside from bow and arrow isn't that bad."

While it all happened, SeitenLight fearlessly battled her own set of Gargonema as she put every inch of forced and rage in each of her slashing attacks and kicks to throw her opponents. Truly, she was different from before she even knew she was chosen to become a Seitenger. It was like every attack she delivered, she was trying to prove something-that she could do it without a second thought as long as it would help her, her brother, and her friends. She struck a few more oncoming Gargonema before she charged up her Hyakureider as she pushed the green button.

The blade of her weapon glowed in white as star-like silhouettes surrounded it. **"Shining Power! Heaven's Blinding Light Strike!"** Upon reciting that, she delivered a cross clash to the remainder of the Gargonema she was dealing with. "Now I'm starting to like this."

With the Gargonema eliminated, the only problem that they needed to deal with and worry about was Cyone. That's where SeitenFire and SeitenWater comes in since they were the ones fighting the said Triske Monster. But from the looks of it, the fight wasn't easy as Cyone was still able to hold off the two Seitengers.

"You weaklings are truly asking for your funeral," Cyone said as he blocked the Seitengers' sword strikes with his fish scale-like shield she summoned.

"Sorry, but we're not planning to die yet. At least, not until we finally destroy you," SeitenWater responded before he sent a downward slash with all his force which destroyed the shield in the process.

Immediately after that, SeitenFire struck Cyone with his Hyakureider that sent the monster flying and made it weak. The monster moaned in pain.

"Now who's the weakling, huh?" SeitenFire mocked as he watched Cyone stood up.

"You bastards! I'll make you eat your words!" Cyone sent two spinning fish scales—just like shurikens—towards the two warriors.

But to the monster's surprise, SeitenFire easily blocked it with his Hyakureider and deflected them quite easily soon after.

Cyone was about to do it again when vines began sprouting out from the ground and the surrounding trees. The monster was surprised but got distracted by a blinding light. He soon found himself bound by the vines which had truly made him immobile.

"What is this? Get me out of here!" Cyone demanded in rage.

"Sorry, but that's not possible," SeitenWater said as he stabbed his Hyakureider to the ground.

Soon after, SeitenWind came to SeitenFire's side. Both of them delivered their respective elemental attacks to Cyone. The wind spell only increased the fire attack's temperature which has easily burned and roasted the monster but not the vines that bound it. It appeared that SeitenLight's spell somewhat protected the magical vines.

SeitenWater's Hyakureider that he stabbed to the ground actually became his medium of delivering one of his strongest spells using ice. With enough concentration, he delivered his freesing spell from underground toward the roasted Triske Monster, making it unable to move or even react.

"The finisher! Shuichi-san, Eichirou-san!"

The blue warrior pulled out his sidearm before he and SeitenFire pushed the green button meant for delivering blade attacks. SeitenWater's Hyakureider glowed in blue color with water surrounding it while SeitenFire's weapon emanated a red glow as fire surrounded the blade.

 **"Outpouring Power! Heaven's Surging Water Strike!"**

 **"Blazing Power! Heaven's Raging Fire Strike!"**

With both spells recited, the two warriors delivered it to the frozen Cyone who couldn't do anything anymore to counter it. The two elemental strike spells finally destroyed the Triske Monster. The magical vines that bound the monster also disappeared. SeitenEarth and SeitenLight approached the other three Seitengers.

"That was one strategy, Eichirou," SeitenFire commented with a laugh. He tapped SeitenWater's shoulder. "But... you did it."

"Don't make him take all the credit, Shuichi-san. We don't want him jumping around after this," SeitenLight said which earned a whining tone from the blue Vessel.

"What was that supposed to mean, Eri-chan?"

But it was soon interrupted with a warning. "It's not yet over, guys."

The rest of them immediately understood what it meant. Moments later, they saw the dark orb gather the scattered Tarean energy and revived Cyone by turning him into a giant.

"This time, I'll steal your energy that will make you fall into despair and hopelessness!" The monster fired a fish scale to the Seitengers which barely evaded somehow.

"Okay. What I know right now, this monster is crazy and we're close to getting crushed by that scales of his," SeitenWater ranted as they regroup.

SeitenEarth exhaled. "I hate it when we have to deal with a Triske Seed."

 _ **"That's why we're here, Itsuki."**_

The said warrior looked down to see his Vessel Medallion slightly glowing. "Terraiger!"

 _ **"We will help you, Eichirou. Just summon us**_."

"Sereo!" SeitenWater exclaimed in obvious glee. He faced his teammates after that.

"Let's go! Firion, I'll leave it to you," SeitenFire said.

 _ **"No problem, partner."**_

"Let's get along, Skylon," SeitenWind greeted.

 _ **"There's nothing to worry about, Misae-chan."**_

"It's nice to be able to see you again, Dovight," SeitenLight stated.

 _ **"I feel the same way, Lady Erika."**_

After that, the Seitengers wasted no time in summoning their respective Grand Vessel Spirits.

 **"Spirit Summon, Start!"**

As soon as they recited the command, they pushed the red button on their Hyakureider and thrust their sidearms to the air. The portal from the sky soon materialized and five animal-like mecha descended from it one by one. The Seitengers boarded their respective Grand Vessel Spirits and placed their Hyakureider to the podium-lik control mechanism of their cockpits. They did so after retracting their sidearms' blade.

"Let's go!" SeitenFire commanded.

The Grand Vessel Spirits which the Seitengers boarded had charged towards Cyone who threw several energy-charged scales to them. In SeitenFire's control, Firion ran faster as they did their best to evade the attacks while charging forward. Firion bit the arm that Cyone used to throw the scales. Terraiger, under SeitenEarth's control, took it as an opportunity to pounce on the Triske Seed. The tiger struck its head to the monster's body, throwing Cyone to the ground in the process.

With that done, Skylon and Dovight made a skydive straight toward the fallen monster. But much to their surprise, giant spears and sowrds from several enlarged Gargonemas struck them and threw the falcon and the dove instead. It was a good thing Sereo's wings caught the two girls' mecha before they could be thrown farther.

"What in the world...?"

"I only heard about the Trsike Seed, but not giant Gargonemas," SeitenWater commented as he looked around, only to be irritated at the sight of giant Gargonemas guarding Cyone as the Triske Seed regroup.

"I hate it when things start going out of hand," SeitenLight said. But with that said, she and Dovight still dealt with the giant Gargonemas.

"Sereo, we'll do our best for now," SeitenWater said as he and his Grand Vessel Spirit flew towards the Gargonemas. **"Shark Icicle Ray!"**

The beam that Sereo released from his mouth froze a few of the Gargonemas and Dovight struck them with a lightning speed. But they didn't anticpate the scales that Cyone threw at them.

"Eichirou! Erika!"

"We can't fight while we're separated like this."

"There has to be a ways to combine our powers and make it strong enough to overcome all of these monsters."

Well, at that point, SeitenEarth's words made SeitenWind realize something. "That's it! Kanako-chan's words ealier before we left the mansion."

Of course, it had caught SeitenWater's attention. "What do you mean by that? What did Kana-chan say?"

"Well, it has something to do with our lesson yesterday," SeitenLight answered.

"Hey! Don't leave us out, okay? What did Kanako-san say to you?" Now SeitenEarth became curious and at the same time, impatient.

But before any of them could continue, Cyone growled so loud which caused the Seitengers to cover their ears.

"Stop mocking me by murmuring to yourselves! You have to deal with me." After that, the Triske Monster began throwing more scales to the Grand Vessel Spirits.

But SeitenFire maneuvered Firion forward as the lion fired laser beams from its mouth followed by SeitenEarth's command to fire more beam attacks to destroy the oncoming scales and eliminate a few of the Gargonemas.

"This monster demands so much attention," SeitenEarth muttered before focusing on SeitenFire. "Weren't you supposed to say something?"

SeitenFire sighed before speaking. "Kanako mentioned that the initial purpose of us studying Reikarajutsu to invocate Hasureiki is for us to create one of the greatest warriors powerful enough to deal with the Triske Seed. All we need to do achieve that is to focus our Hasureiki on a single point—the five of us."

"But we haven't properly invoked our Hasureiki to an acceptable form."

"Unless... you're saying that the main purpose of that training was the focus of power to a single point followed by proper invocation from that particular gathered power to deliver the attack."

SeitenFire nodded at he let out an agreeing sound. "I believe that's the case. At this point, I won't doubt Kanako's words."

"How are we supposed to do that?" SeitenWater later asked when he finally understood the point of their conversation.

Silence surrounded the Seitengers for a short while. And then—

"A combination of our Grand Vessel Spirits to form the Heavenly King. Or at least Kanako said it that way."

"But are we really ready to do that?" SeitenLight couldn't help asking because of worry.

"If we don't do it now, we'll never be able to know if we're ready," SeitenEarth responded.

SeitenWind let out an audible sigh. "Itsuki-kun's right. We got to do it now."

"Shuichi, you take the lead," SeitenWater said.

The red warrior chuckled at the slightly demanding and hasty tone that SeitenWater used. But he understood what the blue warrior wanted to happen.

"Let's do this!"

The five Grand Vessel Spirits fired laser beams towards the oncoming Gargonema in order to create a distraction.

 **"Utsuwa Gattai! Formation Build Up!"**

At that command, the Grand Vessel Spirits began changing their forms in order to create a formation consisting of their bodies. Firion began changing to become the head and the torso combining Sereo and Terraiger that changed their forms to become the right and the left feet. Skylon and Dovight became the left and the right arms respectively befor combining with Firion's new form. Skylon's wings separated from its body to form a sword-like weapon while Dovight's wings changed to become the shield.

After that, the giant robot formed was poised and ready for battle.

 **"Heavenly King, Descend! SeitenOh!"**

Of course, the appearance of a new formidable warrior had surprised Cyone. "Siriso-sama didn't mention anything about those puny Seitengers creating this."

Well, it wasn't just Cyone who was surprised at the outcome of the combination. Even the Seitengers who found themselves in a larger egg-shaped cockpit were surprised, as well.

"I guess this is achievement for us," SeitenLight stated as she faced SeitenFire who was at the center.

"But we'll celebrate later when we're done giving this fishhead the attention he truly wants," SeitenWater said which earned him determined nods from the others.

"Let's go!"

With that, SeitenOh charged toward the Gargonema approaching. Using the Sky Sword, the robot struck each of the monsters and delivered devastating strikes and slashes to their opponents. The Seitengers even fired several energy beams to the rest of the Gargonema which made it easy to eliminate them.

"Now our attention is yours alone now, Cyone," SeitenEarth said sarcastically.

Cyone growled in anger. "Don't mess with me!" Once more, he fired energy scales toward SeitenOh but the robot easily blocked it using the Wing Shield.

"I guess that's the best he can do now," SeitenWind commented.

"Then let's make it his last." With that, the Seitengers removed their Hyakureiders from its placed and pointed it towards Cyone.

The act allowed SeitenOh to charged up the Sky Sword with the Seitengers and the Grand Vessel Spirits' combined Hasureiki in preparation for delivering the finishing attack.

 **"Sky Sword, Divine Break!"**

The tip of their Hyakureiders glowed and with conviction, pushed the white button of their sidearms the same way the Seitengers fired their laser attacks using the yellow button.

SeitenOh, in turn, delivered a devastating strike of the Sky Sword to Cyone which cut the monster and exploded soon after.

The Seitengers could only sigh in relief before cherring for defeating another Triske Seed.

"Stage set!"

 **xxxxxxxx**

From one area of the park where the battle of the two giants could be observed, Nanami smiled as she eyed the SeitenOh. Together with her was her son Akira and his friend Natsume.

"I had no idea SeitenOh's this cool," Natsume commented in awe.

"I only hear stories about this. I have to agree with you, Natsume," Akira added. "Maybe we can ask them to allow us to board on it one day."

The idea seemed to appeal to the other boy. "Well, let's start convincing them, then."

The older woman shook her head as she heard that before turning to the direction where Hideoki was watching the battle earlier.

"I can't believe I'm seeing this again after 25 years," Hideoki murmured as he shut his eyes. "And it refreshes every memory I thought I had forgotten since then."

Nanami remained silent as she watched Hideoki succumbed into deep thinking. "But this is something that we know will continue to happen until the Tareans are finally eliminated, Hideoki. What happened that night changed everything for those kids and for us, as well. I'm sure it's also painful for them. But look at how you've raised them all this time."

The man then opened his eyes and eyed the SeitenOh once more. But for some reason, he could it as something which was more vibrant than how he was looking at it a while ago. At that moment, he immediately understood what Nanami meant.

"I can't believe it..." Hideoki could only say as he smiled at the sight. "How could they have managed to accept the responsibility despite not having full knowledge about the nature of the battle?"

"They have the potential that will allow them to go on fighting and fulfill the task. We'll just have to train them hard. And maybe... Though I know it's futile, maybe we could hope for them to defeat the Tareans—especially Emperor Darshao—for good."

No words were spoken after that.

"At least there's hope that remains. Even a small amount can truly help those kids."

 **xxxxxxxx**

"Itsu-chan," Eichirou called out which had caught the said composer's attention as they head home after their battle.

"Is there something wrong, Eichirou-san?" For some reason, Itsuki didn't mind the nickname that the photographer had called him. It might have sounded quite childish. But somehow, he got used to it.

Eichirou ran towards Itsuki before stopping in front of the younger male Vessel. Moments later, he bowed to the composer which surprised the latter, of course. Even Shuichi and the two girls were taken aback.

"Thank you... for making me understand," Eichirou sincerely said as he raised his head and faced Itsuki. "I owe you one."

Upon recovering from surprise, Itsuki just smiled (which he doesn't usually do) and slightly shook his head. "Don't talk as if I've done something really big. It so happened that I could see through you somehow."

"Even still, thank you."

"Alright, I won't argue with you on that one," Itsuki said resignedly. "But if you really want to thank me, I think you should fix things with her first." He gestured to indicate something that was just behind Eichirou.

Eichirou soon turned around and was surprised to see Kanako waiting for them. His eyes softened at the sight of his childhood friend's melancholic features as she faced him. Realizing that Itsuki was right, he took a deep breath and approached Kanako. He stopped in front of her but he seemed to be at a loss of words that he wanted to say.

"K-Kana-chan—"

"I'm glad you came back safe, Eichirou," Kanako said that cut off the photographer's words.

No words came out after that between them. They just stared at each other, as if waiting for one of them to spill it out.

As for the other Vessels, they could only watch the scene and wait to see more progress in anticipation.

"Is it really okay with you? I mean about you getting involved with our battle with the Tareans."

Kanako smiled as she eyed her friend. "Eichirou, in case no one told you, I'm a descendant of a chosen Vessel from a long time ago. And I already chose to support the Seitengers in every way I can with my skills regardless of the situation. I've been trained to do this. I guess it's just a bonus that the currently chosen Vessels happen to be the people whom I've known for a long time."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"You could say I'm more worried than bothered. But that only makes me even more determined to help you guys. At least I could promise you that as I protect your identities."

Well, hearing the determination in Kanako's voice made Eichirou finally accept his friend's offer to support them. In turn, he ended up embracing the said girl. "Thank you so much, Kana-chan. I'm really glad you're my friend."

Kanako returned the gesture as her smile never left her face. The others also smiled at the scene in front of them which relieved them at the same time.

For now, that moment was surely something worth cherishing. At least, before they head out to another battle with their sworn enemy. But that would be in another story.

 **End of Vessel 2**

 _ **Next time on Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger:**_

Someone from Yokohama is going to stay at the Mizuhashi mansion, as Hideoki announced to the Vessels. But the Vessels regard this as a problem. Now it will be hard for the Seitengers to keep their identity a secret. Or so they thought. What surprise them is the fact that the said person turns out to be someone connected to Erika. But for some reason, it seems that this particular guest somehow hides certain secrets that both Hideoki and Nanami realizes could help the Vessels in more ways than one with their battles. They come to that conclusion when that guest mentions something that could further help the Seitengers in enhancing their Hasureiki even though they just started training and fighting the Tareans.

 _Vessel 3: The Traveling Novelist_


	6. Vessel 3 (Full Episode)

**Vessel 3: The Traveling Novelist**

 _ **Somewhere in Yokohama…**_

It was night time. A teenage girl was standing in the middle of a small library of that mansion. She was looking at the book shelves with a melancholic look on her face. The same melancholic feeling that the full moon was giving off on that particular night.

"Grandpa, I'll be leaving tomorrow. I guess it's about time, huh? I'll put my travels on hold for now. Just until I finally finish my mission," the girl said to no one in particular. But she made it seem as if the old man she was referring to was just in front of her.

A heavy sigh came out of her mouth soon after, as she looked at the cylindrical item on her hand. That item looked similar to the Seitengers' HyakuReiDer, only smaller and with only two slots and three buttons. One more feature unique to this cylinder was the figure of six wings near one end of it, three wings placed on each side. The girl gripped the cylinder hard as she began thinking of things that she knew were about to come now that she decided to do this.

She had to leave the mansion she could ever call home for a long time.

Once again, she sighed and eyed the protrait of an old man hanging on one part of that library.

"Grandpa… Guide me, okay? I know you trained me all this time for this moment. But to be honest, I'm not really sure if I can really do this," she muttered, her voice quivered a little. Soon after, she noticed that her hand holding the cylindrical item started to quiver, as well.

Was she really this scared?

For now, she didn't have much of a choice but to fight that fear. She has a mission to finish whatever happens. She promised that to _their_ graves.

 _It'll be fine…_

 **XXXXXX**

 _ **Mizuhashi mansion…**_

Around the same time, Hideoki stepped out of his room and eyed the full moon from the veranda. Though looking at it only reminded him of his wife Mariko, that wasn't the reason why he felt quite melancholic. He looked at the envelop on his hand, still unopened. He couldn't find himself opening it despite the fact that the sender resquested him to open it on the night of the full moon.

He looked at the letter one more time for a few more moments before finally deciding to open it. Nothing would come if he remained indecisive about things like this. But soon after, he frowned at the words he read on that letter.

' _Atsuko's daughter… is coming here?'_

And that wasn't all he read there. There was one particular passage on that letter that surprised him to some extent.

"That means the soul has finally chosen its next incarnation," Hideoki muttered as he continued to read the letter. Not many details were placed there with regards to the identity of the next incarnation that the sender was talking about.

But one more passage only brought him confusion and to some extent, fear.

' _Her role is to stop the tragedy from repeating again. You must protect her and the current incarnation at all cost.'_

Hideoki just received that letter yesterday. But the sender had been dead for two months now. And no, it wasn't because of the Tareans. It was already the sender's time, but not without leaving Hideoki a task that might determine the fate of the children under his care.

But there was one question that lingered in the historian's mind even after reading the rest of the letter.

Who was the current incarnation?

 **XXXXXX**

" _She's here. The chosen is finally here…"_

 _Itsuki kept on hearing the same words over and over as he roamed the place he was currently at. To his confusion, though, he was roaming the forest near the hotel where his parents died because of the fire 10 years ago. What frustrated him more was the fact that he couldn't leave that place at all no matter how hard he tried to leave._

" _Where in the world am I?" Itsuki could only mutter as eyed the surroundings once more._

" _Don't let them die, child… I beg you… Don't let them die or it will end with her… The world will end with her…"_

 _That voice again…_

 _It was a different voice from what he would usually hear in Itsuki's other dreams. But he was sure about one thing. That voice belonged to an older woman, probably in her late 20's or maybe even in her early 30's. But that voice was surely mysterious in more ways than one._

" _Who are you?!" Itsuki shouted as he continued to search the surroundings. He couldn't use his powers to detect the whereabouts of the speaker._

 _It seemed that his powers inclined to earth even has its limits._

" _Please… Don't let them die…"_

Itsuki could only scratch his head frustratingly and breathed out a heavy sigh as soon as he bolted up. His dreams were surely getting weirder by the minute.

What in the world was going on? What kind of dream was that, anyway? It was the first weird dream he had ever since becoming a Seitenger. Thinking of that, he soon faced the bedside table where his Celestial Shifter was placed.

As surreal and unbelievable as it might seem, it was the truth that he accepted weeks ago. He was one of the chosen Vessels tasked to defend the world from the Tareans. In his case, he was the chosen Vessel for the power of the Heavenly Earth Spirit Guardian. He still had little knowledge about the Heavenly Spirit Guardians or even the realm called the Hundred Heavens where these Guardians resided. But for some reason, despite his desire to discover more about these mystical beings, something still tried to hold him back.

But what could that be?

A knock on the door disrupted the flow of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he responded.

"Onii-chan, it's time to get up. We're going to have breakfast early so we could start our training today," Erika said on on the other side of the door.

He sighed inaudibly and got up from his bed. "I'll follow. You go on ahead." And with that, he proceeded to do his morning routine.

But not without giving a last meaningful look on his Celestial Shifter placed on the bedside table. Moments later, he shifter his gaze towards the music sheets beside his Shifter with unfinished written composition.

A thought entered his mind that made him frown.

' _Could it be that… the voice was talking about the girl that always appear in my dreams since before?'_

Wait… It was possible. But the voice kept on saying the word "them".

Just how many people that the voice was trying to imply with that word?

Shaking his head to remove any more possible questions to enter his mind, Itsuki went on. He didn't have any plans of getting scolded today or any other day just because he was distracted.

A few minutes later, Itsuki was done with his morning routine and went out of his room to proceed to the dining area. His lips curved upward upon seeing the usual scenario whenever breakfast was being served. Eichirou eyeing all the food with delight and anticipation. Misae trying to calm the photographer down just until everything was ready. Akira and Erika still serving the other foods from the kitchen. Shuichi, and surprisingly, Shuichi's biker friend/rival Raisaki Amuro was helping the former set up the dining table. The two elders Nanami and Hideoki were nowhere in sight, though.

He frowned at that.

"Good morning, Onii-chan," Erika greeted with a sweet smile.

Itsuki just acknowledged it with a nod and a ruffle on Erika's hair, which annoyed his sister.

"Onii-chan, stop that! You're ruining my hair again."

It didn't take long before Shuichi and Amuro finished setting up the table. When Itsuki thought that the two bikers were going to announce that it was time for breakfast, he spoke.

"Where's Nanami-san and Hideoki-san, by the way?" he asked as he looked around the dining area.

"Dad's in his room. He hasn't come out yet," Eichirou asked. "As for Aunt Nanami, she just went outside to get the mail. Come to think of it, we've been getting a lot of mails lately."

"Well, blame yourselves for that." It was Amuro who said that, which made them focus their attention to the said biker.

"What do you mean?" Misae asked.

"If my guess is right, those letters were all invitations for you guys. Shuichi's been invited to participate for the race two weeks from now. Eichirou-san's for the photo exhibit showcasing most of his mother's previous works in fashion designing. Misae in an archery competition to be held next month. And the concour that they want the siblings to perform as guests."

"But that's not what happened last week."

"Huh?"

"The ten letters sent here last week were all for Dad," Eichirou continued. "Until now, I kept on wondering what those letters were for."

It wasn't just Eichirou. Even Itsuki and the others had the same thought. They wouldn't have those thoughts if it wasn't for the grave look they saw on Hideoki's face the day those letters came. It was the same grave expression he showed when he and Nanami told them the truth about the hotel fire and the Seitengers.

Did something happen that Hideoki didn't want them to know?

 **XXXXXX**

 _ **Tareus Dimension…**_

Though the rumblings and clashes of thunder and lightning dissipated in the realm, it doesn't mean that the one who was actually causing it was calm. Emperor Darshao, sitting on his large throne with his eyes closed, was just quiet. And to be honest, to the Dark Shadow Defenders who were in the Throne Room, it was a scary type of silence from the Tarean leader.

"Who would've thought those newbies could already form the SeitenOh? How did it all come to this?" Karkino could only grumble in frustration.

"We just didn't anticipate their growth," Orcus calmly answered. "They might be newbies but I can tell that they possess the most powerful Hasureiki among all of their predecessors. There must be some secret behind this that we need to know."

"What we need to focus on is the destruction of the other seals. We'll have an upper hand once we did that," Nemia suggested and tried to approach the emperor but Alvre stopped her. "What's the meaning of this?"

"None of us should approach the Emperor unless we could give him an actual result of defeating those pesky Seitengers!" Alvre growled. "You know that we need those negative emotions to help us break the other Tarean Seals."

"Two of my Triske Monsters have been destroyed by those brats! I need to save face for my humiliation," Siriso entered the conversation.

"I think I have a way to torture those pesky newbies," Nemia said that made the other Defenders' attention focus switched to her.

Nemia only looked to one side of the Throne Room. Soon after, a serpent-like Triske Monster which looked like a hybrid of a water serpent and a manta ray to view. And it was cackling.

 **XXXXXX**

"Helen!"

As soon as she stepped out of the bus, it was that voice that greeted Helen. With a travel bag on her left hand and and a duffel bag slinged to her right shoulder, she looked around to find the source of that voice. Her expression brightened as soon as she saw a familiar face.

It was a woman in her late 20's with bobcut hair and wearing a business outfit. The woman was waving at Helen as she approached her.

"Minako-san, it's been a while since we saw each other," Helen greeted with a wide smile.

"You're right. It's been a while. A long while, if you ask me. Where have you been for the past two months? I haven't heard from you since then," Asakura Minako ranted as soon as the woman finally stopped in front of her.

The last sentence only made Helen's smile disappear that Minako soon noticed.

"Wait. Did something happen?" Minako continued, a little wary that perhaps, she might have said something that crossed the line.

Helen sighed before speaking. "Grandpa died two months ago. Makoto-san and I had to take care of a few things aside from the funeral services and the burial, as well."

Minako was speechless. She didn't see that answer coming. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Makoto didn't tell me anything."

"It's okay. It was Grandpa who told us not to mention anything to others, anyway." Helen smiled once again when she remembered something. "By the way, how did you know I'd be coming here?"

"I received a message from Makoto two days ago. He said that I should help you locate Mizuhashi Hideoki since it's important. He sounded really firm when he sent that message to me."

The younger girl could only sigh at that. "It's not like I'm going to get lost while trying to find him."

"I know you won't get lost. But I'm only making things easier for you. I happen to eat almost everyday at the family restaurant that Mizuhashi Hideoki owned. I see him there most of the time since he's one of the cooks and he personally manage the place."

"He's a restaurant owner now? But Grandpa said that he's a historian," Helen stated with a frown.

"He was. But ever since his wife died, he decided to retire and start over by opening up a restaurant."

Helen didn't say anything anymore. She just coaxed Minako to accompany her in finding the Mizuhashi mansion. She did this despite so many thoughts running in her mind at the time. But thinking this over and over again won't get her anywhere. Right now, she had to focus on her mission to that place.

All of a sudden, she felt the cylindrical item in her pocket vibrated. It immediately stopped her to her tracks and looked around.

 _They're here, as well?_ That distressing thought was in her mind before she noticed people frantically running.

"It can't be…"

 **XXXXXX**

The breakfast was going well for the Vessels that time but for some weird reason, only Nanami ate along with them. Amuro went on ahead before the breakfast could even start since he said he had to go to the racing stadium to help out his uncle who managed it.

"Nanami-san, where's Hideoki-san?" Itsuki managed to ask when everyone seemed to be hesitating to do so.

A sigh came out of the woman's mouth before facing the composer. "He has to go to the restaurant for a while to fix some things."

"But what could that be? I've never heard anything about any possible trouble the restaurant was facing yesterday," Eichirou said in which the girls nodded in agreement.

"It's not about any trouble, okay? So you don't need to worry. His mind is a little messed up because of the letters he received from an old friend."

"You mean, the letters that were sent here last week?" This time, it was Shuichi who asked that.

Nanami nodded and continued eating. To the others, it was an indication of putting the discussion on hold until breakfast was over. Hesitatingly, the Vessels continued eating their own breakfast.

But Eichirou nearly choked while the others were just about to put food in their mouths when they heard a familiar beeping coming from their Celestial Shifters on their wrists. The girls could only exhale exasperatingly.

"You got to be kidding me… A Triske Monster early in the morning?" Misae complained.

When Itsuki looked at his sister Erika, he noticed that she was already checking the location of the attack through her Shifter.

"It's on one of the bus stations near the town border. We need to hurry. Several of the buses there have already been exploded. Soon, the fire they created will reach the nearby buildings," Erika stated calmly which only confused the other four Vessels. Erika just tilted her head when she saw this. "What?"

"How can you even say it so calmly, Eri-chan?" Eichirou asked which only made the pianist smile.

"Nothing good will come out if I panic. Besides, it's our job, right? We have to protect everyone, just as the will of our parents and Eichirou-san's mother who protected us that night."

Upon hearing that, Itsuki remembered the dream he just had before he woke up.

" _Don't let them die, child… I beg you… Don't let them die or it will end with her… The world will end with her…"_

Her… Now he remembered. The woman in his dreams was referring to a certain female individual. But the only female people in the team whose lives were in possible danger were Misae and Erika.

Could it be…?

"Let's go," Shuichi finally said which disrupted the flow of Itsuki's thoughts. "We can't afford to let the damage escalate."

The rest nodded since it was definitely the only answer there was. They could think about other things later. Or at least, Itsuki wanted to think of it that way.

' _I need to concentrate. I can't afford to get distracted today.'_

 **XXXXXX**

What greeted the Vessels were burning buses when they arrived at the bus station near the border of that town. Several people were frantically running just to escape from the fire. The police and several firefighters were doing their best to settle the situation. But what those people didn't expect were the arrival of a bunch of skeleton-like creatures led by what appeared to be a water-type creature.

"Great! Why do we have to deal with a creature related to water again?" Eichirou whined when he finally saw the full form of the Triske Monster.

"Seriously, Eichirou-san. Do you still have the rights to say that?" Misae retorted rather incredulously. "I know your power is related to water but doesn't give you the rights to complain about the monsters we have to fight."

"They just appear whenever they want to. I guess the broken Tarean Seal was really big enough for these troublemakers to come out," Shuichi said in distraught.

"Let's go. We'll discuss this later," Itsuki said that the others agreed on.

Placing their Heaven's Medallions on the slots of each of their Celestial Shifters, they recited their transformation call.

" **Spirit Shift, Start!"**

A few seconds later, the Seitengers donned their suits and weapons and started fighting off the Gargonemas led by the Triske Monster who never said anything even after he saw them. SeitenEarth soon found that a little weird.

"Onii-chan, what's wrong?" SeitenLight asked while trying to fend off the Gargonema on her end. She noticed that her brother was paying attention to the Triske Monster instead of the Gargonemas going after them.

"I'll let you guys deal with this," was the only thing SeitenEarth said before he charged after the Triske Monster that was just standing on one part of the burning bus station looking at the scene.

' _Wait… Just looking?'_ That was when the green warrior decided to use his inclination with the power of earth to detect any other disturbances besides the ones that his comrades were dealing at the moment. He closed his eyes in order to concetrate.

It didn't take him long to figure things out. But before he could even do anything to attack, the Triske Monster was already in front of him and punched him really hard, sending him flying.

The others soon noticed this and was surprised to see SeitenEarth getting thrown off then hitting the building. Due to the impact of the attack, the green warrior collapsed to the ground, but still trying to fight off his dizziness so he wouldn't lose consciousness.

"Itsuki!" the three older Seitengers yelled in worry and faced the Triske Monster.

"Onii-chan!" SeitenLight exclaimed before rashly turning her attention to the Triske Monster whom they don't even know the name. Come to think of it, this monster hadn't even said any word since they arrived. Could it be that her brother already noticed this? "What did you do to my brother?"

"Just this!"

SeitenLight only heard those words before she found herself also flying and eventually feeling her body hitting on something hard. As soon as she dropped to the ground, her transformation was disabled and she was struggling to even move because of the impact.

"Erika! Are you okay?!" SeitenEarth could only shout as he tried to stand up despite the searing pain hitting him. He managed to do so and approached the struggling Erika.

"Onii-chan…" Erika could only say in pain. "What happened? That monster…"

"Yeah, I know," SeitenEarth replied along with a nod and turned his attention towards the Triske Monster still standing. "That Triske Monster standing there is just a trick. A double."

"A double? Then—" But Erika's words was soon cut off when they heard more screams coming towards them.

The siblings were surprised to see the other three Seitengers getting thrown off and hitting some of the buildings' walls, as well.

"Everyone!" both of them yelled in shock.

SeitenEarth immediately recovered from it and soon focused on the enemy. But to his surprise, the Triske Monster just standing there earlier was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?"

"Right here."

Once again, SeitenEarth found himself flying as soon as he felt being punched hard and soon after, hitting the hard pavement. The pain he was feeling earlier doubled after that. But he mustn't lose consciousness now or his teammates—-

Wait, his teammates! He tried his best to look around the area to find both SeitenWind and Erika. He sighed in relief somehow because SeitenWind was with the red warrior while his sister was tended by SeitenWater. Extracting the blade of his HyakuReiDer and stabbing it to the ground, SeitenEarth used it as a support for him to be able to stand up.

He closed his eyes once more and concentrate. This wasn't the dream world where he couldn't use his powers over earth. He just needed to put enough effort to do the task right—-and that was to find where the Triske Monster really was.

Inside SeitenEarth's suit, it could be seen that Itsuki's eyes snapped open as soon as he was able to detect the monster's movements and location. With that, he took out his HyakuReiDer from the ground and inserted his Vessel Medallion Heaven Tiger into one of the two slots before pushing the required button. The blade of his weapon emanated a green-colored glow and he waited for the right time to deliver his attack.

He just hoped it would work, though. At least for a while.

"Onii-chan…" Erika could only utter as she and SeitenWater watched how the green warrior would deal with the situation where they couldn't even see where the Triske Monster was at the moment.

The other Seitengers could only watch with bated breath. What was SeitenEarth planning?

Before any of them could comprehend the situation, SeitenEarth noticed about four rays of laser beams fired from the western direction to the approaching Triske Monster from under the ground, as if swimming it. He took that as an opportunity for now and stabbed his HyakuReiDer to the ground, earning a pained scream from down under. It wasn't long before the ground where SeitenEarth stabbed his weapon exploded and soon after, revealed the real Triske Monster which was a water serpent-manta ray hybrid sort of a creature.

The Seitengers were surprised at the sight of the monster coming out from under the ground.

"He was there the entire time?" SeitenWater could only ask.

"I think so," Erika replied with a sigh. "Onii-chan said that the one who first appeared to us was just a double."

"Itsuki's power to sense using the earth is really incredible," the blue warrior commented in awe.

"But where did those beams come from?"

It was the same question that bothered the other Seitengers even after the monster escaped for the time being. The injury that SeitenEarth gave to the Triske Monster was obviously a deep one, judging it from the smoke coming out of the monster's body through that injury. So it was obvious that it needed to retreat just until the injury would be healed.

They had to prepare for the Triske Monster's next attack then, if it comes to that.

SeitenFire was about to approach SeitenEarth who disabled his transformation soon after and returning to being Itsuki. But he was surprised to see the composer collapsing to the ground, letting go of his HyakuReiDer in the process.

"Onii-chan!"

"Itsuki!"

Immediately, the others, even the still hurting Erika, approached the unconscious Itsuki.

"That last attack he did must have taken a lot out of him," Shuichi commented.

"Not only that, using his ability to sense disturbance using the power of earth must be truly exhausting," Eichirou added.

"In any case, we need to head home. It's better if I could heal Itsuki there," Misae suggested.

"Can you even still do it, Misae-san? You're injured, as well," Erika said without bothering to hide her worries not just for her brother but also for the archer.

Misae smiled and ruffled Erika's hair. "It'll be fine. The wind around the area of the mansion somehow becomes a booster for me to do this thing."

"How is that even possible?" Eichirou asked with a frown.

The archer shrugged. "I don't know. I'll ask Hideoki-san or Nanami-san next time."

 **XXXXXX**

On the rooftop of one of the buildings near the site of the Tarean attack, Helen could only watch the situation there. She didn't know what to feel, though. But the first thing she did as soon as the situation was temporarily settled was to smile, especially when she saw a particular someone she realized was one of the Seitengers.

"I guess this is where everything will become hard for the two of us… Erika…" she muttered and looked at the two cylindrical items on each of her hands.

The one on her left hand was the item she was always holding—-the same one that vibrated when it detected a Tarean attack a while back. The cylindrical item on her right hand, however, was the one she used to fire four laser beams towards the Triske Monster that was approaching the green warrior earlier.

"So the previous SeitenEarth's successor is a male one, huh? And to think it's even Erika's older brother…"

Helen heaved a heavy sigh a few moments after saying that. She did that without removing her sight on the items she was holding.

"Helen! What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be staying in the lobby?"

Minako's words soon disrupted Helen's flow of thoughts and stealthily hid the two cylinders. "How am I suppose to stay in the lobby when there's a lot of people using it to hide from those creatures? Besides, I know I'll be safe here."

"How would you know?"

"I just… know."

The older woman sighed in retreat soon after. "Fine. You win. But come to think of it, things had gotten a little weird in this town since that earthquake in Mt. Kumamoto."

"Earthquake?"

"Yeah. You didn't know? There was an earthquake there that killed most of the children and teachers who were having their field trip around the area. But there were speculations going around that the victims weren't killed by earthquake, but by those creatures attacking earlier."

Mt. Kumamoto… Helen knew that place very well. Studied everything about it, even, with the help of her mentor and guardian who was a former historian. _'The location of the Tarean Seal created from the power of the first SeitenEarth…'_

"Anyway, I think the situation has been dealt with. Now we can go to the Mizuhashi mansion and finally let you see Mizuhashi Hideoki."

Helen nodded and smiled. But behind that smile, she was trying really hard to hide both her fears and worry. _'I can't believe that the Tareans had gotten so powerful… But what was that the reason why there were particular in attacking this place?'_

 **XXXXXX**

Misae heaved a sigh of relief as soon as she was done healing Itsuki. Thankfully, he didn't receive too much injury. Eichirou was probably right about one thing with regards to Itsuki and his powers connected to earth. It would really suck out a lot of Hasureiki. And to think they were just starting to get used to having that kind of mystical energy within them.

She wasn't joking when she said to the others a while back that for some reason, even though she was exhausted and was weakened because of the Triske Monster throwing her, the wind surrounding the area of the Mizuhashi mansion was helping her with her healing ability. And she would definitely ask her mentors with regards to that matter.

After standing up, Misae gave a meaningful look towards the sleeping Itsuki. She smiled when she remembered how he fought earlier and how he managed to deal with the Triske Monster alone. But from what she could see, that driving force must have been taken from something quite tremendous for him. She also noticed that since that morning, he was slightly distracted. Was there something bothering him?

Perhaps Misae would be able to figure it out sooner. Right now, she had to check on the others' condition, as well. But as soon as she went out of Itsuki's room, she noticed someone standing by the veranda and looking at the sky. It didn't take her long before she was able to discern it as Hideoki.

' _I wonder what's wrong. He's been doing that for quite some time now,'_ Misae thought before deciding to proceed to the veranda and approach Hideoki.

It looked like the older man was truly in a deep thought and didn't even notice Misae approaching him. He only realized that when he felt someone standing beside him, making his attention shift to the archer.

"Misae… How's Itsuki?" Hideoki started.

"He's already healed. He just needed some rest to regain the Hasureiki and the strength he lost because of what happened earlier," Misae replied and became silent for a few moments. She was hesitating if she was going to finally ask Hideoki about the issue that had bothered her for quite a while or not.

But it seemed that Hideoki was already aware of that. "You want to know why you can use your healing powers in a stronger version with the help of the wind around the area of the mansion, right?"

Of course, Misae was surprised at that. How did he…?

"Not just you, Misae," Hideoki continued on. "Even the others can use the stronger version of the abilities they've gained because of their Hasureiki finally unleashed after the awakening in this area. Shuichi's ability to determine thoughts by touch… Eichirou's ability to manifest water in its different phase, even create copies of himself using water… Itsuki's extension of his senses using the power of earth… and Erika's light and even sound-related ability… But the reason for that to happen is because of Mariko's barrier that she cast even before she died."

Misae frowned at that. "Mariko-san? She was also a Vessel Support, right? But I thought—-"

"She doesn't just have the ability of precognition, but also barrier creation. Those barriers that she cast around the house, the land where the restaurant stands, and even Nanami's bookstore… All of those came from Mariko and she cast all of them as soon as those places were constructed. The Hasureiki maintained inside the barrier since the barriers' creation was what helped you do your healing without exhausting yourself too much," Hideoki explained.

"Does Eichirou-san… knew about this? About his mother being a barrier creator?"

Hideoki nodded. "I explained it to him as soon as you all went home from your first battle with Juman. But I didn't tell him about the Hasureiki maintained inside the barrier. I told him that because of Mariko's barriers, you guys had been kept protected and also undetected by the Tareans for the past ten years since I saved you from that fire. And those barriers will keep doing its job as long as the Vessels are alive."

 **XXXXXX**

When Itsuki woke up, it didn't take long for him to realize that he was back in his room. He must have collapsed after dealing with that Triske Monster earlier. Man, being attacked suddenly like that really hurt. In addition to that, he must have used much of his Hasureiki to track down the movements of that monster a while back. He had to admit, that monster was fast when it was underground. Fast motion was something he wasn't exactly fond of.

A knock on the door snapped Itsuki out of his musings. When he gave the signal to enter, the door opened to reveal Erika and Hideoki. His sister was carrying a food tray.

"How are you feeling, Onii-chan?" Erika immediately asked as soon as she placed the tray on the bedside table.

"Ready to fight that monster again if it appears once more. Besides, I think Misae-san's healing powers really did its job. I'm completely healed."

"That's good to know," Hideoki said with a nod.

But it was obvious to Itsuki that Hideoki must have wanted to say something more besides that.

"Hideoki-san… Is there something wrong?" he asked the man when he couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.

Hideoki shook his head. Of course, that should've calm him. But he knew that something was going on for the man to have such serious expression.

"How are you going to deal with Diwall the next time he appears?" Hideoki asked.

The name he mentioned made Itsuki frown, though. "Diwall?"

"That's the name of the Triske Monster we fought earlier. In one records that Natsume and Akira managed to pull out, it was one of Nemia's Triske Monsters that has the ability to swim through solid objects like water," Erika explained.

"First, Diwall. And now, Nemia? Who are these people you're mentioning to me right now?"

"I never mentioned anything about the soldiers higher in ranking than the Triske Monsters," Hideoki replied. "There are seven of them that, you could say, under the orders of the boss of the Tareans."

"Emperor Darshao…" Itsuki once read the name before while he was skimming some books at the heart of Hoshizora Bookstore where the records were placed.

Hideoki nodded and continued. "That's right. Those seven warriors were called the Great Shadow Defenders. Nemia is one of those seven."

Itsuki didn't say anything after that. The Seitengers were dealing with the Triske Monster for now and they were already having a hard time. What more if they actually encountered one of the Great Shadow Defenders along the way? Could they really handle it?

"In any case, what I'm more concerned for now was the source of those four beams fired before I delivered my attack to Diwall before. Where did that come from?"

"Onii-chan, we all have the same question. But we didn't manage to find anything about that," Erika replied and shrugged. "Kanako-san did her best but nothing comes up."

"Beams?"

Erika nodded as an answer to Hideoki's question. She soon mentioned that particular detail to Hideoki who, in turn, listened quite carefully and with that unusual serious expression on his face again.

"I think I need to pay attention to the battle the next time you will deal with Diwall," Hideoki suddenly announced which surprised the siblings.

But why?

 **XXXXXX**

A sigh escaped on Helen's lips as soon as she finally reached the place. Well, she actually headed to the Taiyou Family Restaurant in which she learned that it was the restaurant that Mizuhashi Hideoki owned. Earlier, Minako received a call from Makoto that they should head at the restaurant for now since Hideoki was there and Helen could mention to the older man about the detail of her visit to that place.

So here they were.

But for some reason, Helen could feel something weird about the place. She couldn't quite place it but the area seemed to be surrounded by a considerable amount of Hasureiki. Was that even possible? It was amazing, if one would ask her. She had never encountered such a place before in her life.

"Are you okay, Helen? Don't worry about anything, okay? He's not going to eat you," Minako said jokingly.

Though it made Helen smile, it was a forced one and only for a short time. She couldn't deny that she was indeed worried. But it wasn't because of her meeting with Mizuhashi Hideoki. She was more worried about that Triske Monster earlier that gave the Seitengers a hard time. That monster was definitely something, she would say that.

"Are you Tennouji Helen?" a man's voice snapped her out of her musings.

When she turned around, she saw a man who seemed to be in his late 40's coming out of the restaurant with an apron still on him. She bowed and nodded as politely as she could. "Yes, that's me. Are you—-?"

"Your guardian already told me why you're here." Soon after, he took out an envelop from his pocket and showed it to her.

Helen knew that envelop. In fact, she was the one who placed it on the mailbox. "That means I don't have anything to explain to you, Mizuhashi-san."

"You could answer a few questions for me. If that's okay with you."

Helen faced Minako who was looking at them with curiosity and she noticed that the woman was a bit wary. She smiled at her friend in assurance. "It's okay, Minako-san. You can leave me here. We can meet again after this."

It took a while for Minako to do what she was told. She embraced Helen and reminded her about her next meeting and her manuscript, which she only replied with a pout. "I know that. Sheesh! Do you really have to remind me about that?"

"Well, you're a month late, in case you're not aware."

"Fine."

Soon after, Helen was waving at the retreating Minako.

"Who is that woman, Helen?" Hideoki soon asked when they saw that Minako was gone.

Helen faced the old man and smiled. "She's my editor and also one of my mentors."

"Editor?"

She nodded and smiled proudly. "Yes. She was the one who encouraged me to continue my mother's legacy as a fantasy-adventure writer. But of course, I did that using the name that would always connect me to her." When Helen faced Hideoki, she saw him smile wistfully which made her frown. "Mizuhashi-san?"

"I always admire Atsuko's wits and imagination, even before I realized she was the famous Hanasaki Kaoru-sensei," Hideoki said, mentioning her mother's pseudonym in the writing world. "But you don't have to pressure yourself in continuing your mother's legacy as a famous writer."

"It's something I chose to do, Mizuhashi-san. Besides, that way, I would always be close to her whatever happens. Especially now that Erika, my childhood friend, was chosen to become a Seitenger."

"How did you know that?"

Helen sighed once before continuing. "I was at the site of the attack when it happened." She chose to just say that before coaxing the man to enter the restaurant so the discussion could proceed.

As for Hideoki, he could tell that there was more to what Helen had said to him. If she was at the site of the earlier attack, does that mean…?

 **XXXXXX**

The next day, the Vessels were at least glad that Diwall hadn't commenced his attack again. But that only made them quite worried. The quieter it was, the more dangerous things would seem to appear. And danger was something they all didn't want to deal with all the time, given the fact that they weren't exactly used to facing it.

It was supposed to be a normal morning for all of them. But that didn't happen when they saw someone talking to both Akira and Nanami by the porch when they woke up and supposed to find Hideoki so they could get ready to prepare their breakfast. The two were talking to a girl, perhaps around the same age as Erika.

And speaking of the pianist, it was her who immediately approached the girl with glee. Of course, that surprised the other Vessels and Itsuki couldn't even say a word with regards to his sister's excited mood.

"Helen-chan?" Erika, despite her excitement, asked that question in an unsure tone.

That was when the girl talking to Nanami and Akira diverted her attention to Erika. It didn't take long before the girl that Erika called Helen showed a bright expression, alongside the recognition in her eyes.

"Erika! It's been a long time!" Helen immediately left her seat and approached Erika. The two girls even hugged each other.

"Umm… Erika…" Itsuki called out to his sister who seemed to have been caught up in the moment of reunion.

That was when the pianist finally noticed the presence of her brother and her friends. "Ah! I'm sorry, Onii-chan." Without giving Helen a chance to protest, Erika pulled her friend and approached the others. "Everyone, this is my childhood friend, Tennouji Helen-chan. Helen-chan, these are my friends. And I know you've never met my brother before so I'm going to introduce you to him, okay?"

All Helen could do was to nod because it was all too fast for her. She realized at the moment that Erika sure hadn't changed at all.

"Childhood friend? How come I didn't know about that?" Itsuki asked, curiosity now getting into him with regards to this matter.

"Because I chose not to tell you that. Besides, it happened 11 years ago. I was eight back then."

Now Itsuki was surely surprised at his sister's revelation. Even the other three Vessels couldn't contain the surprise they felt when they heard that.

"Umm…" Helen ventured. It did catch the others' attention somewhat. "I'll explain the details about that, if you want."

"But do that later when we're done having our breakfast," Shuichi said.

"Yeah. I agree. Dad would definitely scold us if we still loiter around here. We'll do the proper introductions later," Eichirou added, determined.

"Dad?" Helen repeated with a frown. "You mean Mizuhashi Hideoki-san?"

Eichirou faced her with a smile soon after and nodded. "That's right. He's my father."

"You don't look like him, though," Helen uttered before she could even stop herself which froze Eichirou for a bit. "W-what I mean is… you look a lot like Mariko-san since I've seen her a lot of times whenever I would see her in several fashion shows she hosted before."

"Woah…" Eichirou could only say as a response while staring at Helen in surprise. "Not many people notice that, though."

"That's true. It also took me a while to notice that particular thing," Misae soon joined in the conversation. "So you've met Mariko-san before, Helen-chan?"

Helen nodded. "I also took pictures with her since she was really acquianted with Grandpa."

"By the way, how is he?" Erika asked.

That was when Helen's expression dimmed that made Erika frown.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Helen shook her head and sighed before facing her friend. "Grandpa died two months ago."

 **XXXXXX**

What the others didn't know was that Hideoki remained watching the interaction the whole time, even before the Vessels went down. His mind was still stuck in between the letters he received a week ago and the conversation he had with Helen the day before. There were a lot of things that still didn't make sense to him.

Especially about Helen's so-called mission that she mentioned to him when they had their conversation yesterday.

Why was he feeling something foreboding from all this? But he was sure it had nothing to do with Helen's arrival. In fact, he was glad that he was able to finally meet Tennouji Atsuko's daughter. Even though that woman died earlier than expected, he was sure that Atsuko's legacy would definitely live on through her daughter who sure grew up as beautiful as her.

"Hideoki…"

When he turned around, he saw Nanami approaching him with an understanding smile on her face. "What's your verdict?"

"There's nothing for me to decide about Helen and her decision to approach you with regards to her situation. What I'm worried about was your son and the other kids."

Hideoki sighed and faced the five Vessels conversing with Helen who seemed to have gotten quite comfortable with the presence of the children he had taken care of.

"They'll be needing her help, whether we admit it or not, Nanami. You know that."

"Did she mention anything about the identity of the current incarnation?"

The man shook his head. "She said that she didn't know. But she said other things that made me doubt if it was really like that."

"What do you mean?"

"' _Not all truths are meant to be revealed at the start_.' She said that if there was one thing that Mitsuharu had taught her all the while she was in his care, it was the fact that revelations of certain truths and secrets all have their own time."

"So you're saying that she knew something that we don't?"

"I don't know, Nanami. But whatever it means, what I can say is that Helen is definitely someone important for Mitsuharu to send her here after he died. He knew I could take care of her in his place. Not only because she is Atsuko's daughter, but also because Helen knew more than what we learned all this time."

 **XXXXXX**

As all of it was going on, the next expected attack of the Triske Monster Diwall was already underway. This time, the area of the attack was the nearby town just west of Tsukikage, which was something new. It already made several buildings and vehicles explode and had hurt many people. Some of the residents already left the town in order to seek refuge on the other nearby towns besided Tsukikage.

It didn't take long before the Vessels' Celestial Shifters began reacting to that.

 **XXXXXX**

That moment of reunion and meeting was disrupted by the sounds coming from the simultaneous beepings of the Celestial Shifters. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The five Vessels left Helen by the porch for a while since they needed to check on the situation. They were surprised to see that Diwall was attacking the nearby town of Morizumi.

"Why Morizumi?" Eichirou asked with a frown as he kept on looking at the map detecting the location of the attack.

"Whatever his reasons, for sure it's not something good," Misae said.

"Was it a Tarean attack?"

That question stiffened the five Vessels. All of them soon turned to the source of that voice. They saw Helen's grave expression, which already gave them the impression that she was aware of the situation.

"Helen-chan, you know about the Tareans?" Erika approached her friend and asked that.

Helen nodded. "For a long time, I've been aware of them. In fact, they were after me that night we first met."

Now that was a surprising revelation. The others couldn't hide the shock on their faces. But before any of them could say something, Helen continued speaking.

"It's okay. You have to go, right? I'll… I-I mean, Erika and I will explain the details about our first meeting once you're back."

In spite of the hesitation, Erika and the other Vessels agreed. They had more pressing things to take care of at the moment. That should be their priority. Other things could wait.

 **XXXXXX**

With the help of Nanami's teleportation ability, the Vessels were able to reach their destination in no time. But they were shocked at the damage that Diwall had already caused to the town. Many people were huddled on several places, crying and pleading for help. They could only clenched their fists at the sight.

"That Diwall… I'll make sure he'll pay for this!" Eichirou uttered in anger.

"It's like we're seeing a repeat of what happened at the hotel fire ten years ago," Misae said sadly. "I don't like this at all."

"Who would like this kind of violence, anyway? Only the Tareans, that's who!" Itsuki stated in irritation. It was something that he'd been meaning to let out ever since that girl Helen appeared.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Erika couldn't help asking since she noticed that her brother had been in quite a bad mood ever since he woke up.

Shuichi sighed and tapped Erika's shoulder. "I think the sooner we finish this, the sooner your brother's mood would change to something bearable. If you know what I mean."

The pianist smiled at Shuichi's attempt to joke around despite the serious situation. But before any of them could transform, the racer faced Itsuki. "Can you sense his movement?"

Itsuki immediately knew what it meant. So he closed his eyes and concentrated. It took a while before he could answer Shuichi. His expression was serious when he opened his eyes and faced his teammates. "The one causing the trouble above ground is already the real one. But there's no telling when will he decide to swim under the ground again and attack us from there."

"I think Erika and I could do something about it," Eichirou suddenly said.

Both Shuichi and Itsuki faced the photographer with a frown. "What do you mean by that?"

But Erika and Eichirou just looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

 **XXXXXX**

"They'll be alright, Helen. You don't have to worry about them."

Helen turned to the source of that voice and found Nanami approaching her. She was still standing on the porch where she saw the Vessels off earlier. Her hand was in her light pink jacket's right pocket, this time holding something else other than the smaller cylindrical item that she still wasn't showing to anyone at all.

"I know they can do it, Nanami-san. Besides, I could feel that they could definitely change the history of the Seitengers," Helen said before facing the garden's gate once again.

"Helen, are you saying that…?"

But instead of answering that, Helen chose to do something else. "I'm sorry, Nanami-san. But I want to make sure they're alright." And before the woman could even protest, Helen took off with one destination in mind.

This might create suspicion to the elders but she had to make sure the Seitengers would be able to pull this off.

 **XXXXXX**

The Vessels finally found their target and they saw that it was busy destroying a gasoline station which could seriously cause a larger scale of damage if they let the fire from there scatter even more. Shuichi did his best to dissipate the rage of the fire as Eichirou and Misae combined their powers to put out the slowly dissipating fire. They needed to prevent the fire from reaching the nearby forest.

Itsuki and Erika evacuated the other people trapped in the buildings and several areas blocked by the Gargonemas. It was a good thing that they didn't need words to tell the people what to do.

Soon after, Diwall finally noticed the Vessels' activities and gave an order to the other Gargonemas to attack. But the Vessels already anticipated it and was already ready to transform and fight.

"Let's go, guys. We still have to deal with this ground-swimming monster before we could finally have our proper breakfast," Eichirou said as he took out his Heaven's Medallion around the same time he opened his Celestial Shifter.

"I think we're already going to have lunch if this battle takes longer than usual," Misae replied.

"Whatever will happen, we just have to defeat it. That's our job right now," Itsuki said, which earned him determined nods from his friends and his sister.

"Let's do this!" Shuichi said and opened his Shifter. He placed his Heaven's Medallion onto the slot and pushed the button required for the transformation.

" **Spirit Shift, Start!"** the five recited together.

Soon after, the Vessels were donning their suits, letting them become the Seitengers once more and now, they were ready to fight.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!"**

 **"The Hundred Heavens' greatest victory! Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger!"**

SeitenFire extracted the blade of his HyakuReiDer and pointed it towards Diwall. "It's time we set up the right stage for you!

Without wasting anymore time, they dealt with one group of Gargonema after another with ease. SeitenEarth did this despite the fact that he was also activating his Hasureiki to monitor Diwall's movement both above and under the ground.

It didn't take long for him to notice certain abnormalities with regards to his observation. He gave a signal to the others and almost at the same time, the other Seitengers destroyed the Gargonemas attacking them.

"Where is he?" SeitenFire asked as inconspicuously as he could to SeitenEarth.

"He already began moving underground. I'll do what I can to take him out of there. Eichirou-san and Erika, you proceed with the plan when I did that."

The blue and white warrior nodded and started taking their places to do what they had to.

As for SeitenFire and SeitenWind, they decided to lend SeitenEarth their powers by channeling their own Hasureiki to the green warrior who was now concentrating on casting a spell that he could use to strike. SeitenEarth needed to only cast a single but powerful attack to the ground that could hit Diwall if he wanted to take that monster out of there. Despite the fast movement of the monster, he was able to detect him quite easily, thanks to SeitenWind's Hasureiki.

He could tell that the monster was getting closer towards the three of them, and then—-

With the push of the green button of his HyakuReiDer, he recited the spell he needed as soon as he opened his eyes.

" **Heaven's Rumbling Land Strike!"**

But instead of doing a slash attack, SeitenEarth just stabbed the ground and let the spell 'travel' without destroying the ground itself until it reached its target. Moments later, a part of the ground exploded and threw out Diwall which seemed to have earned even deeper injuries because of that attack.

"You did it, Itsuki!" SeitenWind exclaimed. But her excitement soon faded when Diwall started sinking. "Don't tell me…?"

"Eichirou! Erika! Do it now!" SeitenFire ordered.

Soon after, the three Seitengers noticed the ground exuded a light blue glow, indicating a combination of two different powers. They soon saw that Diwall was trying to move since its feet remained submerged on the ground but to no avail. It looked like the monster stopped sinking before it could reach halfway.

"What is this? What's going on?!" Diwall yelled while still trying to move its feet and get out of there.

"I think it's our turn to strike," SeitenFire said rather calmly and pushed the green button of his HyakuReiDer. "Misae, let's do this."

SeitenWind nodded and also pushed the green button of her HyakuReiDer.

Each of their weapons glowed with their respective colors and prepared themselves to cast their attacks towards Diwall.

" **Heaven's Raging Fire Strike!"**

" **Heaven's Turbulent Wind Strike!"**

The two slash attacks were soon thrown to Diwall who couldn't do anything to get out there, even with the help of its own powers. The impact of the attack, however, was the reason why the ground exploded once again and threw the monster off of its position. When Diwall tried to stand up and regroup, SeitenEarth stabbed the ground with his HyakuReiDer once more—-this time, for a different reason.

When the other Seitengers looked around, they saw several vines growing quite fast and soon bound Diwall before it could even get up.

"Itsu-chan, you sure are angry right now, aren't you?" SeitenWater commented warily as soon as he reached the others.

SeitenEarth just sighed quite rashly and faced the blue warrior. "I just want to end this as soon as I can. I'm still tired from that last fight."

"Then why don't we end this already, Onii-chan?" SeitenLight suggested when she reached her brother and stood by his side.

The others nodded as soon as SeitenEarth agreed to that.

Once again, the Seitengers pushed the green button of their HyakuReiDers and prepared themselves to cast their finishing attack. No matter how much Diwall tried to struggle and break free, the vines themselves won't budge.

" **Five Heaven Slash!"** the Seitengers recited together. Not long after, they threw their combined slash attacks towards the bound Triske Monster.

The vines that bound Diwall were destroyed along with the monster who barely had a chance to do anything to escape after that.

When the explosion dissipated, the Seitengers heaved a sigh and looked around. This was the third monster they've destroyed by far and yet the damage that Diwall caused was too much for them to see. Indeed, it was the kind of damage that reminded them of the hotel fire ten years ago.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" SeitenLight asked as she placed her hand on her brother's shoulder.

SeitenEarth just nodded and placed his hand on his sister's head. But the Seitengers became tensed when they felt something foreboding that was about to come.

"Get ready. Here it comes again," SeitenWater warned the others and prepared himself for the trouble that was about to appear before them.

It didn't take long before the scattered dark energy from Diwall's destroyed body started gathering once again. Soon after, that gathered energy gave birth to a giant Diwall, revealing the monster's second persona.

"Let's go. We can't let him do anymore damage here," SeitenFire said firmly that the others agreed on.

" **Spirit Summon, Start!"**

With that command, the five mecha that the Seitengers owned began descending from the sky. Soon after, all five of them boarded their respective Grand Vessel Spirit. But it didn't stop there.

" **Utsuwa Gattai, Formation Build Up!"** SeitenFire shouted that command which started the combining sequence of the five Grand Vessel Spirits into a single entity. They needed it to fight Diwall together.

" **Heavenly Warrior, Descend! Seiten-Oh!"**

The moment that SeitenOh was complete, the Seitengers were surprised to see Diwall already attacking them with punches and kicks that they didn't even have time to prepare for the next attacks.

"What is wrong with this monster?" SeitenEarth complained as he tried to steady himself despite the continuous shaking of the cockpit the team was in. His grip on the podium-like control mechanism was tight, even to his bladeless HyakuReiDer placed there.

"Well, that proves one thing, then," SeitenWater said soon after. "You're not the only who's pissed off, Itsu-chan."

"Eichirou, you can joke around later," SeitenFire reprimanded. "In case you're not aware, we're dealing with this ground-swimming monster. And if you don't do something—-"

But the red warrior's words were cut off forcibly when the inside of the SeitenOh trembled again, indicating that the monster was still striking the robot.

"It's too fast! I can't even stop its movement!" SeitenLight nearly yelled who was also struggling to remain on her podium with her HyakuReiDer still placed on it.

But as sudden as the monster attacked SeitenOh a while back, it was also the same that the shaking stopped. The team couldn't help feeling wary about that.

"Where did it go?" SeitenWind cautiously asked as she tried to scan the surroundings using her wind powers even from her position.

"Don't think this is over yet, Seitengers!" And once again, the inside of SeitenOh shook terribly. It turned out that Diwall swam inside the ground while the team was preoocupied with keeping themselves steady and struck the robot from there, just like the first time the Seitengers encountered the monster.

Because of its continuous attack to SeitenOh from the ground, the said robot couldn't keep itself steady any longer. Before they knew it, the giant tumbled down, also throwing off the Seitengers from their position.

"I really hate this monster," SeitenEarth grumbled as he struggled to get up. He reached for his HyakuReiDer still placed on its slot on the podium.

But to the team's surprise, Diwall was already going to strike them down using its foot that appeared to have been enlarged, which they never saw the monster used before even in his first persona. They didn't have any time to strike back. And yet, another surprise appeared before them when they noticed the sky suddenly emanated a pale pink glow. Seconds later, a large beam came from there and struck Diwall terribly. The team saw how the beam passed through the monster's body, totally injuring it.

"What was that beam?" SeitenLight could only ask in surprise. Then she faced SeitenEarth. "Onii-chan, do you think it's from the same source as last time?"

But the green warrior remained speechless and eyed the sky for the last time. "Let's use this chance to end this, Shuichi-san."

SeitenFire nodded and soon gave a notice to the others to pay attention to the battle for now. Soon after, the team took out their HyakuReiDers from its respective slots and pushed the red button of their sidearms. Each HyakuReiDer's tips glowed with its owner's respective colors. That action allowed SeitenOh to take out its sword and charged it with a powerful amount of Hasureiki that they needed. But instead of the Sky Sword that it used last time, the robot took out a second blade—-the SeitenKen.

They saw Diwall struggling to stand up while clutching its injured part. They were surprised once again to see that the monster's wound was a through and through. That beam was seriously terrifying—-they all came up with that conclusion.

"Let's do this!"

The rest nodded and shouted the attack. **"SeitenKen, Celestial Drive!"**

With that command, the long sword that SeitenOh was holding struck Diwall by throwing two slash attacks that came to the monster like a shuriken. It wasn't long before the Triske Seed was destroyed and exploded.

"Stage set!"

Despite the victory achieved now that they defeated the second persona of the Triske Monster (usually called the Triske Seed), SeitenEarth's mind was still stuck on the mysterious beam fired towards Diwall once again just a while back. Where could have that beam come from?

"Are you alright, Onii-chan?" SeitenWhite asked once again, worry was evident in her tone.

The green warrior, though startled, had managed to nod just to assure his sister. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was to give her more worries than what they had at the moment. "I'm okay. At least, that ground-swimming monster is gone now. I really hate that Diwall. He made me really dizzy with all the swimming he did underground."

The others laughed at his remarks.

But SeitenGreen remained quiet after that. That beam again… Just where could that beam came from?

 **XXXXXX**

With a tired and ragged sigh, Helen brought down the cylindrical item she was pointing towards the sky a while back during SeitenOh's battle with Diwall's second persona. She did that for a few times, as if catching her breath. Before she knew it, she collapsed to her knees that made her drop the cylinder to the ground.

It had been a long while since she used that technique. Who would've thought that firing that large beam could immediately make her weak like this?

Despite feeling extremely weak, she still managed to crawl to retrieve the cylinder and place it in her jacket's pocket. She looked up once more to see the SeitenOh. Helen couldn't help smiling sadly at the sight of the giant robot that she only heard from her grand-uncle's stories to her before.

"SeitenOh… I never thought I'd finally see you with my own eyes," she uttered, her tone was laced with the same sadness as that of her smile. "You really are going to surpass your predecessors, Seitengers. I can see that now."

With that last thought in her mind, she decided to leave the place before Erika's brother could suspect her. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that Hoshiyama Itsuki seemed to have started feeling something weird about her considering the unwelcoming aura she felt from him while they were at the Mizuhashi mansion.

But she stopped to her tracks not long after. With a anxious look on her face, she gazed towards the sky.

"Mom… This is it. This is where my mission will finally start."

 **XXXXXX**

The Vessels tried to leave the town as inconspicously as they could while the authorities did their job to do some repairs and bring immediate attention to those who were hurt during the commotion that Diwall caused.

"Do you think the police will suspect us about this? I mean, they did see us help the people escape this place just until we defeated Diwall," Eichirou inquired as they walked by the park where the authorities won't be able to spot them.

"We only helped. But from what I felt a while back, I don't think they saw us do those things," Misae said with a sigh.

They were supposed to continue walking away from that place. But Itsuki soon noticed that his sister stopped on her tracks as she was looking at a certain direction. The other Vessels decided to just follow Erika's gaze. Only to be surprised to see a certain familiar person among those civilians helping out the citizens.

"What is she doing here?" Itsuki didn't bother hiding his irritation as soon as he was able to confirm that the person Erika was looking at was indeed Tennouji Helen.

That girl was surely starting to get on his nerves for some reason. And yet he didn't know the reason why he was feeling that way. One thing he was sure of, she was starting to become suspicious of her. Why did she arrive at the Mizuhashi mansion, anyway? How come she was here in Morizumi?

"Who knows. But this isn't something we should worry about for now," Shuichi said calmly, to the composer's surprise.

"What do you mean?" Eichirou innocently asked moments later.

Shuichi sighed before speaking after a few moments. "I know we were all surprised to know that Erika and Helen are childhood friends. But don't you think that this is something we should be happy about?"

"I don't understand…" And Itsuki wasn't lying or bluffing when he said that.

"Whatever reason that Helen-chan had for going to the mansion, I think it's for the best if we should set that aside for now." This time, it was Misae who spoke. "Erika's been reunited to her friend. From what I can see, it seems that they haven't seen each other since that fire. Seeing a familiar face from the past might be one of the things she needs to further bring out Erika's full potential—not just as a pianist but also when it comes to fighting the Tareans."

"Okay, now both of you are confusing me," Eichirou replied before shaking his head. "I can understand the part about bringing out Eri-chan's potential as a pianist. But bringing out her potential as a Seitenger? You lost me there."

"Didn't you hear Helen said it a while back? The Tareans were chasing after her during the first time she and Erika met eleven years ago. From there alone, we know that Helen has a knowledge about our enemies and even us Vessels. She could help us since she's probably a Vessel Support just like Hideoki-san and Kanako," Shuichi said.

But Itsuki could feel that he had a different theory about Helen. He couldn't understand that for some reason. Nevertheless, if it would be for Erika, then maybe he could tolerate Helen's presence.

 **End of Vessel 3**

 _ **Next Time On Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger:**_

Helen was introduced to the Vessels as their senior when it comes to the use of Hasureiki and Reikarajutsu. While training, the Seitengers were surprised at Helen's immense knowledge with regards to the Vessels' powers. Itsuki grew suspicious of her but tried to hold himself back from asking because of Erika who was happy being reunited with her childhood friend. Soon after, another Triske Monster attack began who challenged car and motorcycle racers to a life-or-death driving duel. When the Seitengers tried to deal with him, Shuichi was frustrated at the fact that he lacked the necessary speed to keep up with their enemy and prevent it from further hurting other racers, even his comrades. Kanako and Natsume suggested something that would help Shuichi defeat the monster racer, but it also made him hesitate to accept it due to the fact that it would involve something that he treasured so much for so long since his parents' death.

 _Vessel 4: A Dangerous Race!_


	7. Vessel 4 (Full Episode)

**VESSEL 4: A Dangerous Race (Full Episode)**

Eichirou was still yawning when he went down to the living room, still in his pajamas. It would appear that the preparation for the photo exhibit that he was planning was a really taxing one. Erika soon handed him a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Eichirou-san," Erika greeted as soon as Eichirou took the cup from her hand.

"Good morning..." the photographer replied quite lazily.

Erika could only shake her head and proceeded once again to the kitchen where she saw Shuichi talking to Hideoki. At that, she couldn't help frowning. What could they possibly be discussing? But even from her position, she could tell that it wasn't anything grave or something.

"You woke up early, Erika."

The pianist turned around to the direction of that voice, only to see his brother reading the music sheets that was on his hand.

"I couldn't sleep," she said nonchalantly. But it was more than enough to catch her brother's attention.

"What do you mean? Are you having nightmares?"

Erika shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing like that, Onii-chan. I was..." Wait, should she even tell the truth about that?

"You were what?" Itsuki asked, coaxing her to speak more about it.

Though the tone that Itsuki used was placid, she could sense an underlying worry in it, as well. She sighed because of that. Why was it that she had a brother like this guy, anyway?

But then, this was her brother. It was to be expected since he was the only left that she would call her immediate family. They only had each other all this time, together with the others who now became her teammates.

"I was just worried about Helen-chan." There. She said it.

For some reason, she already expected her brother's sour reaction upon mentioning her childhood friend's name. But she couldn't understand why Itsuki would react like that towards Helen when she hadn't even done anything ill towards her brother.

"Onii-chan..." she called out, using a tone that would immediately state her point.

Itsuki sighed and tapped Erika's head. She didn't resist this time and allowed him to do that. "I'm sorry. But I can't really do anything about my opinion to your childhood friend. Unless something will happen that could make me see the reason why I should trust her, don't expect me to treat her the same way as the others. Okay?"

The pianist sighed dejectedly at her brother's answer. But since he already stated his point, she might as well respect it. She couldn't do anything about it for now.

Well, the reason why Erika was worried about her childhood friend was because Helen didn't sleep in the mansion but somewhere else that she had no idea about. Even though Hideoki offered the other girl a room that she could use for the night, Helen decided not to take the offer for the reason that she already commissioned someone else where she could stay for a while. Not only that, she also noticed that Helen was pretty quiet for the majority of the time that they were together in that mansion.

 _I wonder what's wrong with her. I hope she's okay._ It was a natural thing for her to worry about Helen even though they hadn't seen or even communicated with each other for the past ten years since the hotel fire. And for some reason, she couldn't help feeling a bit bothered about the fact that Helen knew about the Vessels and the Tareans.

Could that be the same feeling that Itsuki had about Helen?

All Erika did was to scratch her head because of so many questions lingering in her mind about her brother and her childhood friend. But then again, it wasn't like she was going to find out the answers anytime soon, right?

"It looks like everyone's here," Hideoki said as soon as he entered the living room where the Vessels were gathered that morning.

"Good morning, Hideoki-san," Erika greeted that the said historian responded with a nod.

But before she could take her seat on the sofa, her expression brightened when she saw who was walking just behind Hideoki.

"Helen-chan!"

"Good morning, Erika," Helen greeted with a cordial smile. "Good morning, everyone."

With the exception of Itsuki, the other Vessels greeted Helen in a similar manner. The composer only looked at Helen placidly and proceeded with reading the music sheets on his hands. Erika sighed and shook her head because of that. She was about to apologize to Helen but the said girl just winked and smiled an understanding smile.

"Don't mind that. I already expected it, anyway."

Now that confused Erika but immediately put that thought aside when Hideoki caught their attention. All of them soon found a place for them to seat so that they could listen to whatever the historian would say to them.

"Alright. Starting today, Helen will be staying here with us. But it's only temporary just until her job here is finished."

The Vessels didn't mind the fact that Helen would stay with them. But the one thing that caught their attention were the words "temporary" and "job". Though before any of them could say anything as a response, Hideoki spoke once again.

"One of her job here is to teach you on various aspects of Reikarajutsu, considering the fact that she was trained earlier than the rest of you when it comes to utilizing Hasureiki. And I want you to pay attention to her when she's teaching. Are we clear?"

At the moment, Hideoki wasn't speaking to them as a head of the Mizuhashi household. But more of a strict mentor. The Vessels just nodded with that thought in mind because they didn't want to be scolded severely just because they weren't paying attention at all.

"That's amazing, Helen-chan! You're going to teach us about Reikarajutsu," Erika couldn't help saying in glee.

"It's not that amazing, Erika. I'm just glad that I could help you in some ways, especially now that you're dealing with the Tareans. They're not exactly that easy to deal with, you know."

"We know that, Helen-chan. Trust me, we've already proven it a few times that we encountered them," Eichirou soon said in which Misae agreed on.

It was then that Helen noticed something. "Come to think of it, where is Hiwara-san?"

The others looked around and that was when they finally realized that the biker was indeed missing. And in the middle of the announcement, at that.

"As for Shuichi, he already asked my permission to leave early," Hideoki responded that made the Vessels and even Helen looked at him. He sighed and pointed at the calendar. "You already know what day is today for him."

With that, they looked at the calendar. From there, they saw the date that day was encircled in red ink. The four Vessels nodded understandingly as they faced each other. Helen eyed them curiously.

Misae faced her and spoke. "It's actually the date that Shuichi was anticipating since it's the day that a new novel of Hanasaki Kikue will be released."

"Eh? Could it be that Hiwara-san...?"

Misae nodded with a smile. "That's right. He's a big fan of Hanasaki-sensei."

"Come to think of it, Hanasaki Kikue-sensei is the second generation of the Hanasaki novelists, right?" Eichirou wondered to himself.

"Yes," Hideoki answered. "Hanasaki Kaoru was the first of the fantasy-adventure Hanasaki novelists, as you call it. But she suddenly disappeared in the writing world fourteen years ago, only to find out that she was killed."

Of course, the last part surprised most of them. However, Helen was surprisingly stoic about that and Itsuki couldn't help noticing it. Hideoki continued speaking.

"The novelist that Shuichi was a fan of was said to be the protégé of Hanasaki Kaoru who decided to continue her legacy in the writing world, making Hanasaki Kikue the second generation of the Hanasaki novelists."

"Dad, you sure knew a lot about the Hanasaki novelists," Eichirou couldn't help commenting that only made the girls smile.

"I was a fan of Hanasaki Kaoru, Eichirou, in case you're not aware of it."

Helen smiled at that while the others couldn't hide the surprise that they felt because of that small revelation. It seemed that Hideoki knew Hanasaki Kaoru quite well if they were to base it from the way he said those words.

"Well, at least Shuichi has something good to look forward to," Eichirou commented soon after in which the others only replied with a nod. "Let's just hope he still has the same energy he has now for him to keep up with the training later."

 **xxxxxx**

Though Shuichi and surprisingly, Natsume were some of the few who made it early for the opening of the mall where the bookstore was, they were still surprised to see many people lining up just to get a copy of the newest release of Hanasaki Kikue's novel for that quarter. Well, who wouldn't be hyped up for that? The said novelist was an incredible find in the writing world, and the two boys couldn't help agreeing.

"It's a good thing we left the house earlier, even though Hideoki-san was supposed to announce something about Tennouji-san and your training on Reikarajutsu," Natsume said as he returned his focus on the line ahead of him.

Shuichi spoke soon after. "It was about Helen going to teach us on Reikarajutsu since she appeared to have a fair knowledge about it."

"If you ask me, from the way Hideoki-san was treating Tennouji-san, she seems to be quite skillful about it that your mentor would actually allow her to teach you guys."

 _Not just skillful, but also powerful._ But Shuichi decided not to voice out that thought since it was just his observation. He was able to feel quite a powerful flow of Hasureiki coming from her. It was the first time he felt something like that. If one would ask him, Helen seemed to be a person whom he shouldn't underestimate just because she had only arrived at the mansion.

As they were waiting for the bookstore to finally open, there was a certain boutique that caught Shuichi's attention. To be precise, a pink denim jacket with a six-winged figure design on both its arms. It was worn by a mannequin placed as a display among other similar denim jackets there, only different in color and design. He couldn't understand why he thought of Helen at the sight of that pink jacket.

Now that he remembered it, Helen appeared to have an affinity on the color pink when it comes to her clothings. At least, he was able to discern it during her last visit at the mansion—the first time they met her.

"Is there something wrong, Shuichi-san?" Natsume asked, snapping Shuichi out of his musings in the process.

The biker shook his head and focused himself on waiting once again. "I wonder when will she finally make an appearance to the public."

"Hmm?"

"Hanasaki-sensei. She already debuted in the writing world four years ago and each of her novels were a hit every time they were released. But she never made an appearance to the public ever since then."

Natsume nodded. "That's true. I'm kind of sad because of that. Even though she takes time to answer most of the fan mails sent to her by hand, I still want to see her personally."

The same thing was also making Shuichi sad. It was a rare thing for a famous biker and racer like him to be interested in reading novels written by a female novelist. But the fantasy genre was something that had always interested him, even when he was a kid. It was his mother Hiwara Mai who introduced him to the works of the first generation Hanasaki novelist—Hanasaki Kaoru. They had truly made his imagination go wild at the time. That was why he even cried when he learned that Hanasaki Kaoru died and won't be able to continue writing anymore.

Even still, reading those works still managed to keep his sanity intact, especially after the fire that killed his parents. When Hanasaki Kikue debuted four years ago, Shuichi had to admit that he doubted the second generation Hanasaki novelist's ability. For him, at the time, no one could surpass Hanasaki Kaoru. But it immediately disappeared when he read Hanasaki Kikue's debut novel _Phoenix Knight_. Since then, he became a big fan of the second generation Hanasaki novelist.

"We can't do anything about it. She still wasn't prepared to face the public, according to her agent and editor. So until the time comes that she finally appears to her fans, we just have to show her our support," Shuichi said and tapped Natsume's shoulder.

Natsume nodded. "You're right. We'll just have to keep supporting her so that she'll know how much we appreciate her work."

 **xxxxxx**

In the Tareus Dimension, the Great Shadow Defenders were busy awaiting the result from the gathered human energy poured to the slumbering Emperor Darshao. But more than an hour had passed and the emperor remained asleep.

"Not enough... It's not yet enough," Siriso growled lowly before punching the pillar where he was leaning at.

"The Seitengers are really interferring with our business. Who would've thought that those brats could truly give us a hard time even though they've been just awakened?" Nemia said as she put back the large jar where the gathered energy was placed before pouring it down to the emperor.

"As you said, Nemia, they're just brats. They won't last long if we keep up doing what we should do to revive the emperor and finally end everything related to the Vessels and the Hundred Heavens." This time, it was Karkino who said those words.

But Orcus only scoffed and left the room before Karkino could even retort to the degrading response coming from their strategist.

"It seems you're not bothered at all, Orcus. You look like you have something in mind about our situation," Alvre commented that only made Orcus stop to his tracks.

But he didn't bother facing his comrades and fellow Great Shadow Defenders when he spoke. "I don't think you'll like the idea of those brats, as you call them, to beat us up when they finally got a chance to strengthen their abilities." Before he could even allow the others to say something, he finally left the room and headed somewhere else.

Siriso snarled as he looked at the retreating figure of Orcus. "That Orcus! Who does he think he is for saying that?"

But the others remained silent as they find the strategist's words to be something quite bothersome, which only made them think that there was some truth behind it.

"For now, we just have to do everything we can to revive our emperor. He's the only one who can end those brats in one attack without us making any effort at all. Gathering energy from the humas' negative emotions and also from their hopelessness is our priority," Nemia said a few moments later that broke the tensed silence.

With that, Alvre faced one side of the room and spoke. "It seems you've finally arrived, my monster."

A Triske Monster whose features were based on the hybrid of motorcycle and automatic machine gun appeared before the remaining Great Shadow Defenders in that room.

"You called, Alvre-sama?"

"I don't have to explain things to you because I know that you're aware of what we should do. I'll give you the job to gather human energy this time. But prioritize in gathering hopelessness. And if anyone gets in the way, finish them!"

The monster obliged and bowed before the female assassin.

xxxxxx

The other Vessels, together with Helen and the two elders, were just done eating breakfast and was about to wash the dishes and fix the table when Shuichi and Natsume had finally arrived together from the mall.

"Both of you! You're late," Eichirou started that only made the others laugh at that.

"Sorry about that. The line was long," Shuichi explained, complete with an apologetic look as he approached Eichirou and tapped the photographer's shoulder. "Here's a compensation." He gave a small paper bag to Eichirou who only eyed it suspiciously. Shuichi sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's the CD that you've been asking from me for weeks now."

With that, Eichirou's expression brightened and immediately grabbed the paper bag from Shuichi that only made the latter smile. It wasn't just Eichirou who had a gift from Shuichi, though. Even the other Vessels got theirs and all of it were just the things that they were looking at the shop weeks ago. Not long after, they soon noticed that Shuichi was carrying two more paper bags.

They were sure that the first one was the book that Shuichi was waiting for. But the other one was something that they didn't have any idea about the content. Shuichi looked around the dining room, as if looking for someone. Then he faced Erika.

"Where's Helen?" he asked.

"Hmm... Probably in the garden. For some reason, she liked staying there."

Shuichi just nodded and headed to the garden that only confused the others. When they looked at Erika, she just shrugged and continued piling the plates for her to be able to start washing them.

Just as the pianist had said, Helen was staying in the garden facing her laptop and seemed to be typing something down. Shuichi hesitated whether or not he would approach her when she appeared to be busy doing... something.

 _I'm just going to give this to her. Nothing more._ Well, if this could start a proper conversation with Helen, then it was for the best. He really couldn't help feeling something mysterious about the girl but he wasn't mentioning anything to his friends as he didn't want to further thicken the tension that Itsuki was creating because of his blunt suspicion towards Helen.

Helen stopped typing when she noticed a shadow approaching her. Upon raising her head, she was surprised to see Shuichi carrying two paper bags.

"Hiwara-san? Do you need anything?" she asked as a start since she wasn't sure about the biker's purpose for approaching her, anyway.

He shook his head and smiled a bit. "You're isolating yourself from the others again. Is it about Itsuki?"

Helen chuckled and shook her head before closing her laptop. "No, even though I have to admit that his stare could really suffocate anyone when he wants to," she joked before getting serious. "I just want to stay somewhere peaceful for a bit so that I could finish what I needed to do. Anyway, what made you come here? You should eat breakfast first since you've just arrived from the mall. Hideoki-san's cooking is very delicious. I've never tasted anything like that in my life."

"I know. We've known that ever since he decided to take care of us after... the fire." But before the atmosphere between Shuichi and Helen could become depressing, he handed the black paper bag to Helen. "I got this for you. I hope you like it."

Without a doubt, Helen was surprised to see that. She couldn't think of what to do for a while there and she was just looking at the paper bag being handed to her. Shuichi beckoned her to take it and after a few more moments, she finally took it—albeit hesitatingly. "T-thank you. But... why are you giving this to me?"

"Well, you won't expect something like this from Itsuki, right? I know he's not exactly very welcoming ever since you came here. But I don't want to do that to you. You're Erika's friend. Trust me, I haven't met anyone that Erika would call like that besides us who had lived here with Eichirou and Hideoki-san for the past ten years. I just want to welcome you now that you're going to stay here."

Helen chose not to say anything at the moment. Instead, she had a look at the content of that paper bag. Her eyes widened when she finally took the item out, only to see a pink denim jacket with a six-winged figure design on the left arm. Even though she shouldn't feel it at the moment, she couldn't contain her happiness at the sight of it.

"This is amazing, Hiwara-san!" Moments later, she faced the biker with a wide smile. "Thank you! I like it so much!"

"That's good to know." For some reason, Shuichi could feel something warm rising up from his chest at the sight of that grateful smile from Helen. It was a little different from the feeling he had whenever he would hand a gift to either Misae or Erika. "You really like the color pink, huh?" he couldn't help commenting.

"Hmm... Pink makes me happy. Or at least it gives off that kind of vibe whenever I look at it. But the color that I really like is—"

But she was soon cut off with the beeping coming from Shuichi's Celestial Shifter. The atmosphere became tensed at that and the biker took the said device from the holster placed on his right side. When he looked at Helen, she just nodded once, indicating that she understood and that she was wishing him good luck.

With that, Shuichi turned around and almost immediately saw the rest of the team waiting for him.

"Let's go."

The other Vessels nodded and ran off to head to the site of another Tarean attack.

As for Helen, she stayed looking at the direction where the Vessels ran off to. Soon after, she shifted her focus on the pink denim jacket that Shuichi just gave to him. She smiled sadly as she ran her fingers on the embroidered six-winged figure design on its left arm.

"I guess pink and green was never a good color combination, huh? And to think green is the color that I really like," she muttered and then she took out the smaller cydrindical item from her right jacket pocket. "Don't worry, Mama. I'll protect them. I know I have to."

With that resolve she uttered, she removed the light pink cardigan that she was wearing and put on the denim jacket that Shuichi gave. After that, she placed her laptop on top of the table by the porch and headed off, with Kanako following her.

 **xxxxxx**

At the famous racing stadium in town, the motorcycle-based Triske Monster had already created a transparent dome around the stadium, trapping civilians inside in the process. There were those who managed to escape, thankfully. But there are more civilians trapped inside the dome, particularly racers preparing for a big race for the coming week.

The monster was challenging racers in the area in a race to death.

"You got to be kidding me... We would race with that heck of a creature who doesn't even know the rules," one racer commented.

But before the others could agree to that or even retaliate, the trapped individuals saw that the dome released a surge of electricity coming from both the top of the dome and from the ground, as well. In the process, the victim's energy would be drained from them.

"So... no one would race against me, then? Either way, you won't win against me. I'm the fastest racer ever and none of you would be able to beat me to it," the monster gloated before cackling loudly.

"Just because you're a monster doesn't mean you're already the best there is."

The monster stopped cackling almost immediately and turned around to look for the source of those words. When he already found the person who turned out to be a racer who was still wearing his helmet—covering his face from the others, the monster approached the person and stopped just a few feet in front of him.

"Who do you think you are to say that to me, puny human?"

The masked racer could be heard scoffing. "Why? You can't accept that there's someone who's still better than you? I doubt you could beat that person at all. He wasn't called the racing world's Fire of the Fang just for the heck of it."

"Fire of the Fang?"

"He's not talking about...?"

But the monster just laughed sarcastically and faced the masked racer once more. "Fire of the Fang, huh? The nickname's not even that scary to hear. So where's this Fire of the Fang that you're talking about? Let me have a race with him and I'll prove it to you puny humans that no one can beat me to it."

"Do you really think he would waste his time racing with the likes of you?" the masked racer taunted once more.

"Hey, Raisaki! What do you think you're doing?"

"Do you want to get electrocuted?"

"You're putting Hiwara in danger with what you're doing!"

"Then let this monster do it!" the masked racer who soon revealed himself as Raisaki Amuro upon removing the helmet dared with conviction. "That's the only thing it was good at, anyway. If it can't accept the truth that there's always someone better than this monster, it would eletrocute anyone who it thinks would get in its way."

"You little—!" Before the monster could even stop itself, it ordered the dome to release surges of electricity to Amuro and several other racers inside.

None of the victims were able to avoid it, therefore electrocuting them and draining their energies. One by one, the affected humans collapsed to the ground. The remaining civilians trapped inside the dome only backed off and cowered in fear before running away from there, even if it was just to hide from that monster.

"Stop right there, Tarean!"

All of those who heard that, including the Triske Monster, turned to the source of it. But they didn't see anyone from that direction and the monster even had to look around wildly just to see the source of that voice. Soon after, the dome slowly showed signs of cracking before fully being destroyed, causing an explosion above the stadium. When the rage of the explosion dissipated, the monster saw five figures holding weapons.

"Ah. So the Seitengers have finally appeared."

As it turned out, it was indeed the Seitengers holding their personal weapons who appeared before the Triske Monster and the ones who destroyed the dome. But the warriors were surprised to see other people already unconscious and had collapsed to the ground. SeitenWater and SeitenEarth looked around and both of them were able to see a few more people hiding from the monster in some areas of the stadium.

SeitenWind and SeitenLight did what was necessary and approached the still conscious civilians to help them escape together with the affected humans that the Triske Monster attacked.

"Everyone! Run to the exit, okay? You're free now," SeitenLight said to the others.

"If you can, will you help us up carrying the other people that the monster had hurt earlier?" SeitenWind inquired as politely as she could.

Thankfully, there were those who didn't hesitate to help as most of the attacked humans were their fellow racers who didn't want to deal with the Triske Monster. As for the other three Seitengers, they were the ones who dealt with the summoned Gargonema and the creature who soon introduced itself as the Triske Monster Motross.

"Bike Triske? Somehow, I can feel that his name does fits him," SeitenWater couldn't help commenting as he dealt with the Gargonema surrounding him using the Shark Water Spear. Soon after, he began casting his attack as he spun the weapon. **"Sacred Water Whirl!"**

The spear was surrounded with a blue glow together with a water-like silhouette circling the blade. The spinning of the weapon allowed SeitenWater to cast it towards the Gargonema, destroying them all in that one attack.

"I guess Shuichi-san has to deal with a Triske Monster who does the same thing as he could," SeitenEarth said as he eyed the said red warrior who only replied with a shrug before fending off the Gargonema on his side. He soon charged his Tiger Earth Slasher with Hasureiki and cast his attack using it. **"Sacred Earth Crash!"**

Soon after, he stabbed his weapon hard towards the group of Gargonema on his end and none of the enemies were able to avoid that. SeitenEarth made sure that no Gargonema would survive when he did that.

As for SeitenFire, he cast a fire spell towards the group of Gargonema that he was dealing with as soon as he split his Lion Fire Blade in two, thus forming twin swords. **"Sacred Fire Helix!"**

The spell was thrown towards the enemy and had even affected Motross when he leapt and spun around in order for the spell to cover more ground, to make sure that every enemy was dealt with. When SeitenFire landed to the ground, he looked around to check if there were anymore civilians in the area. His sight soon landed on one area where he saw something that stiffened him because of shock.

"Amuro?"

When the other two Seitengers heard that, they followed the direction that SeitenFire was looking at and soon approached in order to confirm his suspicion. To their surprise, it was indeed Amuro who was among the unconscious racers in the area. The said racer's uncle Matsumoto Yushiro was the one helping SeitenWind and SeitenLight in evacuating the other civilians as the man carried Amuro just right after SeitenFire approached the other racer.

"You're kidding, right? Even Amuro got hurt," SeitenWater said as he approached the red warrior.

But that alone was enough for the blue warrior to sense something dangerous towards SeitenFire.

"This isn't good..." SeitenWater muttered as he faced SeitenEarth who just shrugged, as if saying that it was something to be expected.

 **xxxxxx**

"Are you sure we should be here, Tennouji-san? We could watch the battle from the lab, you know," Kanako said to Helen as they reached the rooftop of the tallest building near the racing stadium where the Tarean attack was currently happening.

But Helen didn't say anything for a while and Kanako understood the reason why. The said Vessel Support followed the direction where Helen was looking. She was surprised to see the number of victims even from her position.

"Something tells me that one of the Seitengers is about to gain something important from their battle with this Triske Monster," Helen said softly as she faced Kanako.

"What exactly is your purpose in coming to the Mizuhashi mansion?" Kanako bluntly questioned the girl who only eyed her blankly. "You seem to know a lot about the Tareans and the Vessels. It also appears that you're not just a normal Vessel Support to me, if you really are one."

Moments later, Helen just smiled that caught Kanako off-guard for a little while before she eyed the stadium once more. "I guess I do give off a suspicious impression to most of you, huh?"

"Well, you can't help it if it was like that. You suddenly appeared to Erika-chan when you haven't even communicated with her for the past years since you two separated."

"You're wrong on that part," Helen immediately reacted. "Erika and I were communicating even after the fire. In fact, she was the one who first reached out to me, especially when Hideoki-san decided to take them in and raise them as his own children."

"Then... why didn't you appear to her if it was like that?"

Helen sighed and looked at the sky for a short while. But even from there, Kanako couldn't help noticing the girl's eyes seemed to have a deep sadness lingering in them.

"I have a different mission, one that keeps me away from home and from my friends most of the time." Soon after, Helen changed the subject of the conversation. "Though the Seitengers are indeed progressing, the worst has yet to come for them."

Kanako frowned at Helen's words, more on the last sentence rather than the sudden change of the topic. "What do you mean?"

"The fast progress of the Seitengers would soon force the Great Shadow Defenders to take actions on their own if this continues," Helen stated gravely.

Of course, Kanako was aware of the Dark Emperor's retainers and their possible abilities if she were to base it on the records she had read ever since she was young. But from the way Helen said those words, it seemed that the records didn't fully state the capabilities of their enemies. If that were the case, then the hard time was yet to come not just for the Seitengers, but to the rest of the people who were supporting the chosen Vessels.

 _The worst is yet to come...If that was the case, then..._ Kanako couldn't help thinking of those words over and over before facing the somber-looking Helen eyeing the racing stadium, as if observing the situation from there. _This girl..._

Just what was the extent of Helen's knowledge with regards to the Vessels and everything related to them? Though she could understand why Itsuki was suspicious of Helen from the start, for some reason Kanako could feel that there was something more than what Helen was telling her about the possible worst scenario that was about to come. But if this girl could help them defeat the enemy in any way at all, then perhaps...

 **xxxxxx**

The dangerous tension that SeitenWater initially felt from SeitenFire soon escalated that only made the red warrior charge towards the Triske Monster who was standing up from the attack that was thrown to it earlier.

"You bastard! How dare you hurt my friend?!" SeitenFire growled as he brought out his Lion Fire Blade in twin blade mode once more and attacked Motross in simultaneous slashing attacks.

SeitenWater could only groan in frustration as he watched the biker attacked like that. "I'll definitely not going to try messing with any of Shuichi's friends."

"I told you, it's already expected," SeitenEarth said as soon as he approached the blue warrior. "Amuro-san might be his ultimate rival in racing, but he was also his childhood friend. He had known him even before the hotel fire."

Soon after, the two female Seitengers were done evacuating the victims and the other civilians still conscious. They approached the other two Seitengers who were just watching SeitenFire attack Motross in a fit of rage.

"We need to help him deal with that monster," SeitenWind suggested that the others only replied with a nod.

But before any of the four warriors could approach SeitenFire and help him, more Gargonemas were summoned and immediately attacked them. This time, SeitenWind and SeitenLight decided to combine their powers to wipe them all out at once using spells from their personal weapons.

 **"Sacred Wind Tempest!"**

 **"Sacred Light Driver!"**

The two spells that the two female Seitengers cast using an energy arrow from the Wind Falcon Arrow and an energy slash attack coming from the Dove Light Striker, which soon combined to form an even stronger energy attack, were thrown towards the oncoming Gargonemas. In one strike, the Gargonemas were all destroyed just like that.

"Now that is one scary combination attack from both of you," SeitenWater commented. "Let's go. I don't think Shuichi would be able to concentrate properly with him attacking the monster like that for hurting Amuro."

The others agreed to that. But before they could even take a step towards their comrade, they heard SeitenFire's scream who was thrown because of a beam attack from Motross.

"Shuichi!"

"Shuichi-san!"

The attack wasn't enough to bring SeitenFire down and it was easy for him to recover from that. He was supposed to counter that when all of a sudden, the five Seitengers saw that the lower part of the Triske Monster's body transformed to something similar to the structure of a motorcycle.

"Seriously, this monster is definitely living up to its name," SeitenWater commented in which the others only responded with a sigh.

This guy could really create a way to lighten up the moment despite the thick tension. Now they were wondering where could he had gotten that kind of talent.

But at the moment, their main concern was to deal with Motross who was now transformed into something that would be ready to race with anyone. At that moment—

"Red guy, you seem to be someone who could take up a racing challenge, huh? How about a race with me?" Motross challenged in a mocking tone.

SeitenFire didn't say anything as a response, though, even when the other Seitengers helped him recover from that last attack. Soon after, the female Seitengers decided to deal with another group of oncoming Gargonemas on their own as they asked the other two Seitengers to stay with SeitenFire and help him in any way they could to deal with Motross.

"I think this monster could sense someone with the ability to take up his racing challenge," SeitenEarth concluded as he faced SeitenFire. "What do you want to do, Shuichi-san?"

Once again, the red warrior didn't say anything about that. But before he could even say anything with regards to that, they were surprised to see Motross suddenly speeding up and about to charge towards the three male Seitengers. They prepared themselves for the oncoming attack, but what they had expected to happen didn't occur. When they turned to where they now knew Motross headed to, they were stunned once again—this time, for the reason that Motross attacked both SeitenWind and SeitenLight who were busy dealing with the multiplying number of Gargonemas trying to kill them.

"Misae! Erika!" SeitenFire yelled in shock before getting thrown all of a sudden together with SeitenWater and SeitenEarth. It seemed that Motross also targeted them after dealing with SeitenWind and SeitenLight.

The intensity of the speed attack disabled the Seitengers' transformation, with the exception of SeitenFire's. Though he was able to withstand the attack's intensity, it was still enough for him to lose his strength. But he musn't fall down now, especially when this monster just attacked his friends like that.

"Shuichi... Be careful," Eichirou managed to say to SeitenFire, even though the said warrior didn't spare them a glance.

Itsuki tried to stand up in order to check on Misae and his sister Erika. "Erika! Erika! Wake up!"

The photographer followed suit so that he could still do something to protect their unconscious female comrades. Using a spell to draw up water from underground, Eichirou used that to create a clear ice shield so that they could still managed to check on the situation between SeitenFire and Motross. From the looks of it, the red warrior had already accepted the monster's challenge—albeit forced and done out of rage.

Just as Eichirou thought, SeitenFire had already thought of accepting Motross' racing challenge. He could tell that this monster would only feel satisfied if it found a worthy opponent in one thing it does best. The red warrior spared a glance towards his comrades now hurt, while his female comrades were now unconscious because of this heck of a monster.

When he faced the monster once more, he caught a glance of his favorite motorcycle—the one he received as a gift from his deceased father.

 _I could use that. But then..._ Damn it! Does he have to hesitate now? Besides, SeitenFire would only feel satisfaction in doing the race when he used the motorcycle that only made him feel as if his father was still near him and alive in his heart. If he used that, would his father also feel satisfaction, knowing that SeitenFire would use it to defeat the enemy that was trashing down the racers' dreams and passion?

Inside SeitenFire's suit, it can be seen that Shuichi's eyes were closed before they snapped open once he finally made a decision. In a hurry, he ran towards the direction of the parked motorcycle before jumping in order to avoid Motross' beams firing at him. When he was able to ride the vehicle and started its engine, he took out his bladeless HyakuReiDer and pointed it towards Motross now coming at him. The said device emanated a red glow surrounding the silhouette of a lion's head that came out of it.

 **"Lion Laser!"**

Red laser attack with the silhouette of a lion's head was soon fired towards Motross and soon after, he began riding the motorcycle. This time, he was able to catch up with the monster who also started the race.

"Racing was something that Shuichi-san was really proud of, even before," Itsuki commented before noticing that his sister was regaining consciousness. "Erika!"

Misae was also regaining consciousness and was able to stand up with the help of Eichirou. "So it's a bad idea for this monster to use racing as a device to create chaos. It ended up gaining a formidable enemy in Shuichi because of that."

"But he still shouldn't let his guard down," Erika said right after that. "Motross was also serious when it comes to racing. Even if it means destroying everything that got in its way."

"That means all we can do for now is to watch how the events will unfold, huh?"

The others nodded in agreement. It would be a mistake for them to disturb the duel between two racers like that.

But dealing with Motross' speed was something that SeitenFire would never consider a piece of cake, especially when the lower part—the motorcycle part—of the monster was actually sending out beams towards him so that he would be defeated and beaten. Even though he was able to send out beams using his HyakuReiDer, it wasn't enough.

 _Did this monster call itself a great racer when it's cheating like this?_ SeitenFire could only think of as he continued firing Lion Laser just to block the beams coming towards him while driving the motorcycle.

Before he could even think on how to attack the monster again, another beam was sent towards him. He was supposed to fire another laser attack, bigger than the last in order to block it. But all of a sudden, the red warrior got distracted with a sudden flash of red light coming from the lotus symbol on his helmet.

"What?!"

It wasn't just him who was surprised with that flash. Even the other Vessels couldn't hide the shock they felt because of that. From their far position, both Kanako and Helen had also felt the same thing as it was happening.

"What is that light?" Kanako couldn't help asking.

"Could that be...?" Helen only muttered with a frown.

The sudden event caused too much distraction, not just for SeitenFire but also for Motross. The said monster fired an even larger beam after the previous one towards the red warrior once more.

"Die!"

Though he tried to veer away from the oncoming beam, the sharp turn done just to avoid the oncoming attack had only made SeitenFire lose his balance and topple down together with the motorcycle. When he got up, Shuichi's eyes widened upon seeing the beam about to hit him. He was able to cast a larger fire spell using his HyakuReiDer in order to block it somehow. But the intensity of the attack made him unable to hold out much longer. Not to mention that he was already weak because of the previous attacks that the monster did to him. In the end, the beam had hit both him and his motorcycle, despite his efforts to protect it.

"Shuichi!"

"Shuichi-san!"

The other Vessels dashed towards the terribly injured Shuichi whose transformation was now disabled and was only forcing himself to get up but to no avail. He lost consciousness soon after.

"We need to retreat for now," Misae suggested as he cradled Shuichi's unconscious body.

The others nodded since it would be impossible for them to deal with Motross at the moment in their current state. They needed to think of a counterattack in order for them to end this. But Itsuki sensed something weird from the ground as soon as he touched it. When he turned to the source of the strange sensation, his eyes widened at the sight of Motross about to fire a beam attack towards them.

The composer firmly hit his hand to the ground and soon after, vines came out from it. After that, he faced Eichirou. "You think you can do that spell again? We can't let Motross create anymore damage to this place or to Shuichi-san."

The photographer immediately understood what Itsuki meant by those words. Using the same way that Itsuki cast his spell, Eichirou also hit his hand to the ground and allowed the spell he was able to think of to travel towards Motross. The resulting ice barrier erected from one part of it had blocked the monster's beam. It was followed by two large icicles stabbing the motorcycle-like body of the Triske Monster. The attack made Motross scream in pain before retreating almost immediately that the Vessels felt that the events went like a blur to them.

The Vessels could only heave a sigh of relief for now after the two Seitengers allowed their spells to dissipate.

However, the damage obviously seen that was done to Shuichi and his motorcycle, even to the stadium, was enough proof that everything that had happened was real.

 **xxxxxx**

The day didn't even end and Shuichi was finally able to regain consciousness despite the injuries he sustained from Motross. That was why Misae couldn't help feeling worried for the biker because it was obvious that Shuichi was forcing himself to move.

"Shuichi, you should rest for now. You're still hurt," she suggested but it seemed that her words fell on deaf ears.

Misae sighed at that. She knew this trait of his very well, especially when he was truly acting stubborn that he would refuse to listen to anyone at all. The past ten years that they lived at the Mizuhashi mansion together made her able to know a lot about Shuichi. Not just the biker, but also the other Vessels.

But before Shuichi could even take a step outside his room, he looked at Misae who was only pouting and had placed both hands on her waist. "How did you manage to bring me here? You guys were also injured."

"Both Helen-chan and Kanako arrived just in time to help us using Doctor Tsukimori's car" Misae explained, mentioning Kanako's father. "As for the other people that Motross attacked, they didn't sustain heavy injuries and they'll recover after a few days of rest, according to Akira and Natsume who decided to check on their situation."

Shuichi nodded and sighed in relief, knowing that Amuro was alright despite what happened. He clenched his fist when he recalled something that he had seen in Amuro's mind when he touched his unconscious friend a while back. Just as how Itsuki awakened his sharp senses using the power of the earth as soon as his Hasureiki was awakened, Shuichi was able to obtain a certain ability after the awakening.

It was the ability to discern thoughts of other people using their warmth. To his surprise when he first used that, he was also able to determine even their past lives and hidden secrets using the same way. However, there was a side effect as his ability could also drain a considerable amount of energy from the person whose thoughts he was trying to discern, creating a dizzying effect towards the subject. He didn't know the reason why it was like that. But because of that, he knew he had to be careful in using his ability unless it was extremely necessary for him to use it.

"What did you see in Amuro's mind when you touched him a while back?" Misae asked, breaking the silence between them and snapping him out of his musings.

Shuichi sighed and faced the archer. "I only saw his recklessness when he taunted the monster earlier."

"Recklessness?"

He nodded and smiled before going out of the room.

"Wait a minute! What was that supposed to mean?" Misae inquired as she followed the biker.

"Does he really think the Fire of the Fang could truly beat Motross?"

"Well, _you're_ the Fire of the Fang, idiot! If that monster wasn't cheating like that by firing beam attacks, you would've won that death race." Misae paused when she recalled something. "Come to think of it, your nickname in the racing world has truly matched your powers right now, huh?"

"Misae..."

The archer just smiled and tapped Shuichi's shoulder. "For now, I think it would be best if you rest. You might not like it, but we'll definitely use you as a center of our strategy to deal with Motross."

"Just as I was expecting."

But the resolve that Shuichi was feeling at the moment soon dissipated upon remembering the events a while back that truly knocked him down like that. Before he could truly feel something depressing because of that, he went out of the room and headed to the living area of the house. When he got there, he heard Itsuki explaining the events that happened during the battle to both Hideoki and Nanami.

The biker clenched his fist tight when he heard Itsuki mention the result of it to his favorite motorcycle—that it took a greater damage because of that beam attack from Motross. Before he could even stop his tears from falling, he heard Itsuki asked one particular question that soon filled the area with tension.

"How come Helen was in the area, anyway?" the composer asked rather curtly.

"I gave the permission for her to go there. Besides, watching the battle sequence from there was something she needed in order to learn more about all of you."

"She could've done that from the satellite footage coming from the Doctor's Hasureiki-powered satellite."

"Sorry to break it down to you, but my father's satellite still needed some repair after something attacked it last week. So he needed to bring it back here on Earth to fix it," Kanako said as she entered the room carrying a tray containing glasses of vegetable juice. "Maybe you should drink that for now, Itsuki-kun. Hopefully, that will calm you down and help you recover."

Shuichi smiled at how calm Kanako was being even when Itsuki was acting grumpily like that. He, too, was aware of what happened to the satellite that Doctor Tsukimori Genma created. But at the moment, the reason for the satellite to take that damage was still a mystery. Perhaps they'd be able to solve it later on.

Erika was supposed to say something about her brother's mood, but she soon noticed one particular thing. "Come to think of it... Where is Helen-chan?"

 **xxxxxx**

The girl they were looking for was actually at the garden watching the recordings of the earlier battle. But to the Vessels' surprise, Helen was watching it using a smaller cylindrical item together with her laptop.

"That girl is really taking things easy," Itsuki grumbled. "She's definitely going to get it this time."

But before he could take a step to approach Helen and reprimand her for the nonchalant attitude she was showing towards the situation, a bandaged hand soon blocked him off that surprised the composer. When Itsuki looked up, he saw Shuichi's gaze fixated to Helen and Eichirou shook his head, signaling him that he shouldn't do anything at the moment.

"Why?"

However, the answer he got was something that caught the two older Vessels' attention. Itsuki followed direction to where their gazes were fixated. That was when he finally understood why they stopped him from doing anything to Helen. Shuichi and Eichirou's focus was on the cylindrical item that Helen was using to play the recordings. It was the same as how the Celestial Shifters were projecting the situation of a Tarean attack to the Vessels.

"But... how?"

None of them were able to came up with an answer. Shuichi's mind, however, was more concerned about the six wings on one end of that cylinder. A certain question ran in his head as soon as he saw that. Was it just a coincidence that the six wings was also stitched on the pink denim jacket that Shuichi gave to Helen as a gift before?

Before any of the male Vessels could do anything, they soon saw Misae approaching Helen who still seemed to be unaware of the Vessels' presence.

"Helen-chan," the archer called out that soon caught the girl's attention.

Helen turned around and finally saw the Vessels now approaching her. "Everyone... You seem to recover quite fast. Especially you, Hiwara-san."

"It takes more than this to bring me down for good," Shuichi answered proudly that made Helen smile.

"Why are you watching the battle sequence from earlier?" Eichirou asked.

The girl's focus soon returned to the footage and typed something down from her laptop, thereby rewinding the events she was just watching a while back until it reached the scene where the sudden flash of red light appeared from the lotus symbol on SeitenFire's helmet. She soon paused it right there.

"What are you thinking?" Erika inquired somberly that surprised the other Vessels.

For a while, Helen didn't say anything. She was just looking at the paused footage intently.

"Why did that happen, anyway?" Misae muttered as she, too, was looking at the paused footage.

Moments later, Helen faced the Vessels who were all looking at her, much to her surprise and confusion at the same time. "You guys can be a little scary when you all look at me like that."

"Sorry..."

"Setting that aside for now... Are you guys aware of the Guardian Medallions?"

Now it wasn't just Helen who felt confused, but also the Vessels because of that question.

"Don't tell me... you're not aware of it?"

"There's a reason for that, Helen," Hideoki was the one who responded that made the Vessels, and even Kanako and Helen turn to the source of it. "They haven't heard about it, that's why. I should've mentioned it to them as soon as they were awakened."

"What's a Guardian Medallion, Dad?" Eichirou asked his father.

"It's the second classification of the Spirit Power Medallions. As you know, the Vessel Medallions were the first and the more known classification of the Spirit Power Medallions. They enable you to use the powers of the Grand Vessel Spirits and summon them, as well. The Guardian Medallions hold almost a similar purpose and power."

"Really?"

Helen nodded as her response to Misae. Once again, she faced the paused footage and played it soon after.

"But Helen, why bring up the topic about the Guardian Medallions all of a sudden? And what's that device you're using to replay the footage from the previous battle?"

The said girl sighed as she resumed her previous work of analyzing the footage. "Eichirou-san, despite the childishness of your actions sometimes, you sure ask a lot of questions, huh?"

"Well, a child can truly be a curious being, right? It's already natural," the photographer responded, not at least offended when Helen called him childish.

Helen chuckled while the other Vessels shook their heads. This guy was truly unbelievable in more ways than one. They realized that now.

"Alright. I'll answer your second question," Helen declared soon after that made the atmosphere serious almost immediately. She stopped replaying the footage and showed the cylindrical device to the Vessels. "This was something that Grandpa created for me when I was eight. He said that I needed a reliable device that will aid me when the time comes that I'll start supporting the Vessels. Grandpa gave it the name _Astral Shifter_ , basing it from the fact that I like stargazing for some reason."

"Astral... Shifter?!" the Vessels chorused in surprise.

The device wasn't what they thought it was, right? The Vessels looked at each other and if they were to base it on their respective expressions, it appeared that they were thinking of the same thing. Soon after, they all eyed Helen who was just looking at them innocently.

Now this girl needed to give them answer to another mystery that baffled them.

 **xxxxxx**

The gathered energy was poured into the slumbering emperor and like as usual, the Great Shadow Defenders waited in anticipation for a result. But just like before, Emperor Darshao remained asleep and not even a single effect could be seen after that. Alvre growled in frustration and faced Motross rashly.

"How come you gathered only this much? Were you only out racing again? I thought I gave you a clear order of gathering energy!"

"B-but Alvre-sama! I've done the job just as you asked. And yet there are humans these days who aren't even afraid of what I can do and have even the guts to mock me and my speed," Motross reasoned, trying not to stammer in fear for its boss.

"Who cares about those humans? You should've just taken their energies and make them suffer endlessly!"

"Alvre-sama..."

"If you ask me, even I would sympathize with your Triske Monster, Alvre," Siriso interjected before Alvre could even get frustrated and take it all out to Motross. "Especially with those damn Seitenger brats!"

"One of them really put up a fight with your monster's speed, Alvre," Karkino soon said.

Alvre could only heave a sigh just to calm herself down. With two of the Great Shadow Defenders saying things like this, perhaps she should've looked at the situation first before getting frustrated. Patience was supposed to be one of her virtues.

But because of the Seitengers, she was truly losing it.

"Alright," Alvre said soon after. "For Siriso and Karkino's sakes, I'll let it go for now. But give me a better result next time or else!"

Motross raised its head in surprise before bowing down deeply once again. "I'm grateful, Alvre-sama. I'll set out to the surface again and do as you command!"

With that, the Triske Monster left the room where the emperor's sleeping chamber was.

But despite all the commotion, Orcus remained silent that Nemia soon noticed. As inconspicuously as she could, she approached her fellow Great Shadow Defender who was still silent and appeared to have not noticed her approaching.

"You noticed something about the previous battle, didn't you?" Nemia started, but said in a form of statement.

Orcus just sighed before facing the shinobi. "Can I even hide anything from you, Nemia?"

"I'm just observing you. The others are busy ordering people around when they should think of a proper plan to defeat the Seitengers. As long as those brats exist, we won't be able to leave this damn place and conquer the world."

The strategist didn't say anything after that. He just stayed there on his spot watching his comrades thinking of other plans to destroy the only enemy that had ever gotten in their way.

"One of them is about to gain more power," Orcus uttered that only Nemia heard before leaving the room.

 **xxxxxx**

Night time was supposed to be the time for the Vessels to rest their immensely tired and injured bodies in order for them to have the energy to deal with Motross should that monster began attacking again. But Shuichi wasn't in the mood to do something like that.

He might use the reason that his body was moving on its own that was why he was currently heading to the garage where he was told that his motorcycle was placed there. He made it sure that the others were asleep by now so he had no worries of disturbing them at the moment.

Shuichi turned on the light as soon as he reached the garage. On one side was the car that Hideoki would usually use and even Eichirou. But the one occupying a larger part of the area was his damaged motorcycle. He heaved a sigh-albeit ragged-as he approached it. He couldn't help feeling weak at the sight of the damage that the vehicle had sustained.

He wanted to regret ever deciding to use his favorite mootorcycle just to deal with Motross' challenge. But his comrades' lives were more important to him at the time. Besides, he said that he'd deal with the consequences later on.

But how was he supposed to deal with this now?

His teammates knew how precious that motorcycle was to him. It was one of the most important thing he possessed which connected him to his dead father. And now...

 _Dad... I'm sorry..._ Shuichi wanted to utter those words but it seemed that it was blocked from his throat. Furthermore, he already lost the strength to even utter them.

Before he could even stop himself, Shuichi collapsed to his knees and cried in front of the damaged motorcycle.

"Dad... I'm sorry for not being careful. This shouldn't have happened to the last gift you gave me if I managed to think calmly at the time. I'm sorry," he uttered in between silent cries as his head was down, unable to look at the motorcycle.

He had always been careful about this particular vehicle ever since he got his license and Hideoki finally allowed him to ride it. But he wasn't able to stop himself at the time. He could've used another motorcycle in order to deal with Motross' challenge. However, he couldn't recall at the moment as to why he ended up using his own motorcycle for that situation.

Shuichi looked up, tears still flowing.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let everything that had happened to you be put in vain, Fang," he said after a few more moments of silence as he eyed his motorcycle. "Fang" was the name he gave to it as soon as he laid eyes on it 11 years ago. It was when he received it from his father. "I'll defeat Motross, just as Amuro was pointing out before. The Fire of the Fang will put an end to his senseless racing challenge."

As Shuichi gave that promise to the damaged vehicle, it appeared that it was the reason why he became unaware of the other people's presence around the garage. Erika, Itsuki, and Eichirou were leaning outside the first door of the garage. Using the Hoshiyama siblings' abilities in both earth and sound, the three of them were able to hear Shuichi's words. As for Misae, she used her powers over wind to listen to Shuichi's monologue. She was together with Akira, Kanako, and Natsume.

"Now I could understand why Amuro-san doesn't even want to race with a pissed off Shuichi," Misae commented with a sigh. Soon after, she faced the three Vessel Supports. "You think you guys can do something about this?"

The three just stared at each other for a few moments, before nodding detemined. Kanako stepped in to say something.

"We're able to think of a way. But do you think Skylon can lend us a hand with what we're planning?"

Misae frowned as a response.

 **xxxxxx**

The next day, the Vessels felt that the day would turn out good somehow if they were to base it from the news that Akira had brought to them.

"Really? They're all awake?" Erika asked just to make sure.

Akira nodded rather vigorously. "Yes, they are. Though Motross' attack drained their energies and had caused them to collapse that day, there's no other damage done to them."

The rest couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"That's good to hear," Itsuki commented. "But I think we should focus on thinking of a way to deal with Motross and defeat it. We can't let that monster do something like that again."

"That's true," Eichirou responded. "There's a possiibility that the racing stadium won't be the only stage that Motross would target."

"So you're saying that it could even include other motorists in the area?"

The photographer nodded grimly in response to Erika's question. "Before that could even happen, we have to stop it. But right now..."

"The only one among us who could up a fight to its senseless racing challenge will be Shuichi-san."

"But I doubt you could calm him down in order to do that, Itsuki," Misae said, speaking for the first time. "Unless we coukd do something to reason with him and let him accept Motross' challenge regardless of the consequences, I doubt we could let him fight for us."

No one was able to say anything about that. The archer had a point, though. It might be pitiful or frustrating for the others to see Shuichi fret over a damaged motorcycle. But they knew fully well how much Shuichi had treasured that motorcycle. They didn't have any right to say something that would mock the biker's attachment to that vehicle.

It was when Eichirou finally noticed something that made him look around the room. "By the way, where is Shuichi?"

The others finally became aware of the biker's absence. Come to think of it, they didn't see him come out of his room so they assumed that he was still sleeping. But it seemed that it wasn't the case at all.

"Don't tell me he went out again without telling us anything," Eichirou speculated.

"Don't lump him with you, Eichirou-san," Itsuki nonchalantly pointed out.

Eichirou rashly faced the composer. "Hey! I don't always do that, Itsu-chan."

"We'll find him," Kanako volunteered that made the Vessels' attention fixate to her. "Only four Shifters are giving off a signal around the area of the mansion so it means that Shuichi-kun brought his Celestial Shifter with him."

"We can find out where he is using that," Natsume added before facing Akira. "You can start the preparation for _that._ Once we managed to convince him, we'll head straight to the lab so we could finally set it."

Akira smiled as he did a two-finger salute to his mechanic partner. "Leave it to me."

Soon after, the cousins went out of the mansion in order to track down the biker and talk things with him. But before they could finally leave the area, they stopped when they heard their names being called. Upon looking around, they frowned when they saw Helen approaching them.

"Tennouji-san?"

Heln took a deep breath as soon as she managed to reach Kanako and Natsume before speaking. "Are you going to find Hiwara-san?"

Kanako nodded. "We still need his permission to proceed with the plan we're thinking so he could defeat Motross. Is there something you need?"

The girl didn't say anything. Instead, she took out a brand new book still sealed in plastic. To their confusion, it was the one titled _Phoenix Knight_ \- Hanasaki Kikue's first novel that debuted four years ago.

Natsume was the one who decided to ask the question. "Why are you handing us this book?"

"I think it's something that Hiwara-san needed right now. Let's just hope he hadn't forgotten something important. Or else, it'll be impossible for him to deal with Motross, especially on his own," Helen replied gravely before smiling that startled the teenage boy. "It's something that might remind him of that important thing in some ways."

Though confused, the cousins agreed to deliver the said book to Shuichi. Whatever it was that the book was holding, they could only hope that it could really help them talk things out with the biker.

 **xxxxxx**

If it was just a habit or the reason that he had nowhere else to go at the moment, Shuichi didn't want to talk about any of that for now. What mattered to him was that he needed a place where he could clear his mind before heading out for a fight. Motross wasn't defeated yet, so he was sure that the scale of the attack would be larger than the last time.

He went out again to the cliff that he would always go to whenever he wanted to unwind and clear his mind. Though he had made his resolve last night, it wasn't enough for him to think of a way to defeat the monster. Shuichi could've discussed this with the other Vessels, but he didn't want to vent out his frustrations on them.

So going out was probably the right thing to do for now.

But as soon as he got there, for some reason, several memories from his childhood suddenly flooded his mind. Though it wasn't the first time that it happened to him, something was still odd about that.

Using his Celestial Shifter, he decided to know the reason why it was like that. As it turned out, the area around the cliff was surrounded by a mystical energy which was a little different from Hasureiki. Now that he recalled it, he had been able to sense something mysterious about the cliff ever since he first went there with his father when he was a kid. A few years before his mother died, she went there with him.

Come to think of it, this was the place where his mother Hiwara Mai told him about defeating "an enemy with two personas". At the time, he thought about people with multiple personalities. But at the time of the awakening, he recalled her pointing out that the enemy only had two personas.

 _Does this mean she's been aware of the Tareans' existence since then? But how?_

Shuichi looked out to the open once more and focused on sensing his surroundings. But it seemed that his mind was still in disarray that he could only let out a frustrated sigh.

Could he still fight in this situation?

"Shuichi-kun..."

That voice snapped him out of his musings and also made him open his eyes. Shuichi must have been completely frustrated that he was unable to sense Kanako and Natsume approaching. He turned around in order to confirm that it was indeed the cousins who arrived and was now approaching him.

"How did you know I'm here?" he asked casually.

"You brought your Shifter with you, right? We tracked you using that," Kanako replied and had even showed him her laptop.

"I thought the satellite still needed to be repaired. So how come?"

"Most of the instruments that we use can track down Hasureiki-powered devices and some Hasureiki users even without the help of the satellite. Dad made sure that we can do that."

"So this is your favorite place, Shuichi-san?" Natsume asked as he looked around the area. The biker nodded. "It's really peaceful up here."

"You think so, too?"

The boy nodded once again. But soon after, Natsume's expression turned thoughtful that both Shuichi and Kanako noticed.

"What's wrong?" the biker couldn't help but ask out of concern. This was the first time he had seen that kind of expression on Natsume.

"This place... Something's strange about this."

That was when Kanako decided to focus on sensing the mystical energy around the area. Just like Natsume, she also thought that something was strange about the place itself.

"Even though it's faint, I could tell that it came from a powerful source. But the energy around the area was unlike that of the Hasureiki or even the Tarean energy."

"But where could it possibly come from? From the looks of it, this mysterious energy has been here for a long time now," Shuichi couldn't help saying since he was curious about that powerful sensation he was feeling every time he would go to that cliff.

"I'm not sure. But I'll try to research about it, it that would make you feel at ease," Kanako declared that somehow made Shuichi smile. Soon after, she changed the topic of the conversation. "Still bummed about what happened to your motorcycle?"

The small smile on Shuichi's face immediately disappeared just like that as soon as he heard the question. "You're really a blunt person, aren't you, Kanako? Can't you even take it easy when you ask a sensitive question?"

"You know I don't take things easy, Shuichi-kun. But let's get straight to the point, shall we? The reason I asked that was because we managed to think of a way to fix your motorcycle."

Of course, Shuichi was surprised to hear that. But almost immediately, it was replaced with gladness that one of the most important things in his life would still be fixed. At the same time, however, something told him that there was more to it.

"You think you can fix it before Motross would try attacking again?"

"Do you still want to use it to defeat Motross, Shuichi-san?" Natsume couldn't help asking this time.

The biker sighed and looked away. "I don't know why, but I really couldn't find myself using any other motorcycle to deal with that monster. Even though I know my motorcycle won't be able to keep up with the pressure of the combat with the Triske Monster, I still want to use it." Once again, he faced the cousins and smiled bitterly. "It was weird of me to think of it that way, huh?"

It took a while of silence before Natsume or Kanako decided to speak.

"If you're that determined to use your motorcycle to deal with Motross, then we can do an upgrade to it so it can endure the burden of an intense combat you'll be having against the Tareans," Natsume said not long after.

Shuichi's eyes widened upon hearing that. But before he could make a comment, Kanako spoke.

"But we still need your permission for us to do it. And if you do agree, we'll be borrowing the Heaven Lion Medallion from you since we need Firion to lend us his powers together with Skylon to proceed with the plan."

The biker remained silent even after that. Though a part of him was glad that the motorcycle would be fixed, the placing of an upgrade just for the vehicle to endure the tremendous combat stress was what made him hesitate. One thing was for sure, the bike would change its appearance.

But would he still remain holding on to an old memory if a bigger duty was waiting for him? His father was long dead, but that doesn't mean the memories that goes with that motorcycle would vanish just like that. He needed to set his priorities straight at this time, one that he knew would make his father proud no matter what.

Though before Shuichi could say anything (again), Kanako handed him a brand new copy of Hanasaki Kikue's debut novel "Phoenix Knight". Of course, it made him frown before facing Kanako.

"What's this for?"

"Tennouji-san wanted us to give this to you. She said that it might help you somehow if you're still hesitant and perhaps this would also remind you of something important that you might have forgotten. Or at least she said it that way," Kanako explained before placing the book on Shuichi's hand. "Open it. There could be something inside that might let you do just that."

Shuichi wasn't sure what was going on. Though he wanted to understand those words, perhaps it would be better if he did what he was told. As it was going on, he couldn't help feeling surprised that the book was indeed brand new.

How could Helen managed to obtain a brand new copy of _Phoenix Knight_ with a cover design that was from four years ago? Most of the reprinted copies of the said book today was slightly altered.

The surprise he initially felt escalated as soon as he opened the book and saw what was on the first page.

"You're kidding... Is this really Hanasaki-sensei's autograph?"

Of course, it was given that those words would catch Natsume's attention who was also a fan of the said author. The boy approached Shuichi and asked him to see the autograph.

"This is crazy! It really is Hanasaki-sensei's autograph!" Natsume announced excitedly.

"But why would Tennouji-san give you something that came from the famous author herself? I don't think you could use the reason that she knew Shuichi-kun was Hanasaki-sensei's fan," Kanako said that only made the biker fall into deep thinking.

It went on like that for a short while before Shuichi looked at the autograph once again. But soon after, something else had caught his attention.

There was a note written quite small just beside the author's signature. Shuichi decided to read it.

 _Just as how the phoenix would die and be reborn, I hope you as a chosen warrior destined to protect the world using the power of hope would make you realize that one loss won't let you end things as they are._

 _Just as you are a warrior chosen to bear the fiery passion of humanity towards their dreams and the future, don't let the fire you possess be extinguish completely._

 _You can be a Phoenix Knight on your own. Just prove it._

Shuichi couldn't hide the shock he felt as soon as he read the note. There was no mistake that the note was something that Hanasaki Kikue herself wrote. If he were to base it on the handwritten messages usually seen at the back of her books - only the photocopied versions, though - then he wouldn't doubt that fact.

But if that was the case, then was it possible that _that person_...?

 **xxxxxx**

Just as expected, Motross commenced its attack on the surface. But just as the Vessels had also feared, the Triske Monster expanded its scope to that of the whole of Tsukikage. Shooting down and electrocuting racers and ordinary motorists alike should they declined its challenge, the monster was completely satisfied with the chaos and terror it was creating. In addition to that, it was able to gain a considerable amount of negative energy from all that.

"Oh, come on! You humans are no fun at all if you just fall down easily like that. The true race hasn't even started yet!" Motross said mockingly followed by a maniacal laugh.

The Gargonema were busy either to attack other civilians around the area where the Triske Monster was or to remove the electrocuted and energy-drained victims out of Motross' way.

"Come out, come out, Seitengers! I'll show you how our race will become."

 **xxxxxx**

"How long is this going to take, Akira?" Eichirou asked his cousin who was still tinkering Shuichi's treasured motorcycle.

Right after the talk Shuichi had with the cousins Natsume and Kanako, he eventually agreed to the idea of placing the upgrade on his motorcycle. It appeared that Hanasaki-sensei's autograph and small note did a lot to dissipate the hesitation lingering his mind and became resolute with that decision. But instead of going back to the mansion in order to personally observe the upgrade placement, Shuichi entrusted the cousins with his motorcycle and decided to leave the cliff ahead of the two.

Not long after, Kanako started getting busy with her laptop together with the presence of the Fire Lion Firion that Shuichi had lent to them. While Natsume immediately helped Akira who already started proceeding with the plan with the help of the Wind Falcon Skylon that Misae got ready.

"You can't rush perfection, Eichirou-san. And stop asking anymore questions or else, I won't be able to concentrate on doing my job properly. I don't want to deal with Shuichi-san's wrath if I made a mistake and ended up destroying his treasured motorcycle. You know how machines can be truly delicate when it comes to handling Hasureiki," Akira replied without even looking at the photographer.

Itsuki only approached Eichirou and tapped his shoulder. The latter looked at the nonchalant composer who just nodded, indicating that they should trust the younger Vessel Supports with their jobs.

It seemed like hours had painstakingly passed before the placement of the upgrade was done. At least, that was how it felt to the Vessels who were anticipating the outcome of the upgrade placement and also of Motross' next attack.

When Itsuki checked the time, he was surprised to see that only 47 minutes had passed. Did Akira and Natsume really manage to finish doing the job in that amount of time? He couldn't help smiling at the fact that they had Vessel Supports like those two in their league. They could only hope that Shuichi would be pleased with the result.

At that point, the Vessels' trail of thoughts were interrupted with a familiar beeping. Not just one but four beepings. Each of the Vessels took out their Celestial Shifters creating the noise and decided to check on the situation.

But even though they anticipated it, the Vessels still couldn't hide the surprise they felt upon seeing the situation. Motross had indeed expanded his area of attack. All they could see from one of the projected screen was the damage that the Triske Monster had already dealt to the city and to the citizens.

"That monster's really going to get it this time!" Itsuki said with gritted teeth.

"No kidding! The damage right now was worse than last time."

"But if we're heading out now, do you think Shuichi-san will catch up and deal with Motross again?" Erika couldn't help asking in worry.

"This is Shuichi we're talking about, Erika-chan," Misae said reassuringly. "Not once did he back out in the middle of a challenge laid out in front of him. Knowing that guy, it was for sure that he'd have a upper hand as soon as he cleared his mind from all the thoughts that disturbed him until now."

"That means we have to deal with Motross until Shuichi arrives, huh?"

The rest nodded somberly at Eichirou's words.

"Then let's head out!"

 **xxxxxx**

Shuichi had been looking around for quite some time now. But there was no trace of the one he was looking for. He couldn't rely on his powers or even his Shifter to locate that person since he had no idea about the exact flow of Hasureiki that the person he had been trying to find was possessing.

Yes, the person that he needed to locate for quite a while now possessed a considerable amount of Hasureiki. Though he wanted to give up looking as time passed by, there was a nagging part in his brain that told him he shouldn't and that he could locate Helen.

At that thought, he halted to a stop. He just met Helen. And yet... a part of him was acting weird by doing all this just to find her. Yes, he could partly blame her mysterious personality for him to be quite a curious person when it comes to her.

But there was more to that nagging part in his brain than just mere curiosity. Though for now, he had other pressing matters to think about and prioritize.

Once more, Shuichi looked around the area where he stopped. A few moments later, he stared at a certain dessert shop where he finally spotted the person he was looking for. To his confusion, however, Helen was just standing outside the shop. It seemed that she was looking at something over there.

Before his mind could even think of a possible answer, Shuichi found himself already walking towards Helen. He soon realized the reason for his body to act on its own (again) as he approached the said girl.

 _Why was she looking from outside the shop with that kind of expression?_

He was only a few feet away when he saw Helen suddenly becoming startled and turned to his direction not long after. He stopped as soon as their eyes met.

"H-Hiwara-san? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," Shuichi answered matter-of-factly.

Of course, he already expected a surprised response. Yet in Helen's case, it was only shown slightly. One thing he noticed about this girl-she was doing her best not to show too much emotions. And for some reason, he wanted to find out why.

"And will you please stop with the formality? You can just call me Shuichi. Honestly, I prefer it that way," he continued as he approached Helen.

The girl smiled and faced the dessert shop once again. He, too, decided to face the said place－only to frown at the sight of a plated dessert displayed on the show window.

"They said that my father was an excellent patissier and that he used that talent first to gain my mom's attention," Helen started that soon broke the silence between them. "But I can only remember a little about him. The only thing that's clear in my mind was the time he made me eat this exact plated dessert. After that, I declared that I'd be able to make sweets as delicious as the one my father would make when I grow up. I don't know if I succeeded, though."

"W-what do you mean?"

This time, Helen heaved quite a ragged sigh and faced Shuichi. The melancholy in her eyes was truly visible that it took him aback.

"They were gone before I could even show it to them."

Wait... Was was that supposed to mean? _Don't tell me...?_

"They were killed when I was five," Helen confessed soon after in a grave tone. "By a high-ranking Tarean."

Without a doubt, those words froze him to spot as the shock he felt upon hearing them spread. And to think a Tarean did it...

"So that's why you were dedicated in helping us..." At that point, he remembered something. "But does Erika know about this?"

"She knew that my parents were dead. She knew that they were killed, as well. But I never told her that it was a Tarean who did it." Not long after, Helen took a deep breath and faced Shuichi once again. This time, with a smile. "But I don't want to talk about it right now. Besides, she would know the truth soon. Anyway, why are you looking for me?"

That was when Shuichi immediately recalled the reason why he was seeking Helen out. He took the _Phoenix Knight_ book out of his inner jacket pocket and showed it to Helen.

"They really handed it to you. I'm glad," Helen said with a smile.

"Yeah. The message written inside really hit me hard. And now... I think I know the real reason why you're not showing yourself to your readers despite the success of your novels... Hanasaki KIkue-sensei."

But instead of being surprised with the way Shuichi had guessed and pointed that part out, Helen looked at the racer with pride. "As expected of my big fan. You guessed it right."

"Then the first generation Hanasaki novelist was..."

Helen nodded. "My mother, Tennouji Atsuko. And I know you're aware of the fact that Hanasaki Kaoru was killed 14 years ago."

"So you decided to take over your mother's works and continue her legacy as a novelist."

"It was Minako-san and Makoto-san's idea. I need to find a way to at least have a connection to my dead parents no matter what it was. My father's passion for making sweets and traveling... and my mother's novels... I wanted at the time to engrave at least a bit of those in me just for me to feel that they're still close to me. But I don't want to use the identity in which they were truly known for. And so the idea of having a Hanasaki novelist per generation was born. That's also how Hanasaki Kikue was created."

Shuichi finally understood where Hanasaki Kikue's passion came from, why each novel seemed to surpass each of them and were better than the last. It was her way of connecting to the person important to her all this time.

And it seemed that it was similar to the way he never wanted to give up and use that same motorcycle to defeat Motross. He wanted to use the one thing that still connected him to his dead father to destroy the monster who was a disgrace to the racing world.

"Thank you... for reminding me of what I should do at a time like this. Even though I made my resolve last night, when I woke up, I couldn't understand why I was hesitating over something that I can easily overcome to begin with."

"Like what I said on the note, don't let anything or anyone extinguish the burning passion that you possess to treasure everything important to you. Be it a memento or the people that helped you become who you are right now. I think you will be undefeated when you do that."

This time, Shuichi couldn't help showing off a smile and Helen followed suit. It felt like it had been a while since he smiled like that when only a day had passed since he did so. He must have been completely bummed right after dealing with Motross for him to feel like that.

But before he could say something in response to that, Shuichi's Celestial Shifter beeped. He immediately took it out and projected a map to know where the Tarean attack was happening. His eyes widened upon seeing that Motross had expanded its area of attack.

"Is this for real?" he could only say before closing the Shifter.

Moments later, another beeping came from the device. This time, Kanako was the one calling.

"It's ready. You can use _that_ to deal with Motross and finish him off."

"Thanks!" After that, he faced Helen. "I'm heading out."

"Be careful, Shuichi-san."

Though slightly startled upon hearing Helen say his name for the first time, he smiled soon after. "I will."

He was about to run and leave the place to go to the location of the Tarean attack when Helen called him out.

"Is there something wrong?"

However, the serious look on her face suggested something different.

 **ーーーーーー**

Thrown quite hard from their fighting position, the situation for the Vessels didn't turn out so good as they dealt with Motross with only the four of them while waiting for Shuichi to finally appear and help them finish the fight.

"I guess this monster's really out for blood this time," Eichirou commented with a grunt as he struggled to get up despite the pain he felt from the impact.

The other three followed suit with their blade-extracted Hyakureiders as their support. Itsuki was already clutching his left side because of the pain coming from there as he tried standing. "No kidding."

"I think we know the real reason as to why Motross' speed is unbeatable right now," Misae said with a grunt.

"He was drawing someone out to challenge him, using us as a bait for that to happen," Erika responded and heaved a sigh as she stood up with the help of her Hyakureider.

Indeed, it was something that they were all worried at the moment. They did a lot of consecutive attacks to at least weaken Motross, but the Triske Monster seemed to have been just playing with them using his speed. Adding the fact that the motorcycle part of the monster's body could shoot out beams, it was a losing situation for the four Vessels whose transformations were now disintegrated because of Motross' simultaneous attacks to them.

"How long do you think we'd be able to hold out?"

"We still have to do our best to keep this up, or else we'll all end up dead," Misae uttered with determination despite her small and slightly pained voice. Until her eyes widened and turned to face Motross because of what was about to happen.

The Triske Monster was about to fire a powerful beam towards them that only made the Vessels unable to move in order to avoid it. Not to mention that their injuries were really crippling them at the moment.

 **"Lion Laser!"**

But all of a sudden, they were surprised when an even bigger beam was fired towards Motross and it was powerful enough to at least injure the monster.

"Red beam?"

"No way..."

"Is that...?"

Misae smiled and nodded. "I think it finally is."

When the four warriors turned to the source of the beam, they saw the tip of Shuichi's Hyakureider emanating a red glow. Despite the pain that they were feeling due to their respective injuries, the Vessels raised themselves up to approach their teammate who had just arrived.

"Seriously! Do you really have to arrive this late?" Eichirou reprimanded as he punched Shuichi to his chest.

And yet, it didn't seem to affect the biker at all. He just smiled.

"In any case, I'm glad you're here now," Itsuki said as he placed a hand on Shuichi's shoulder. The biker could only smile at that.

"Does that mean the placing of the upgrade on your bike was finished already?" Erika asked.

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, it did. I'm sure you were all aware of that."

"Well, we just wanted to confirm if it was okay with you changing your favorite motorcycle's form like that."

At this point, Shuichi sighed and faced Motross with his eyes narrowed. "I'll dwell on that later. Right now, we got other important things to focus on. One of them is finally defeating Motross."

The others agreed to that without hesitation. With that, all five of them faced the still maniacally laughing Motross with determined expressions.

"Let him laugh all he wants. It's not going to last long, anyway," Eichirou uttered that only made the rest smile.

 **"Spirit Shift, Start!"**

Soon after, all five of them donned their suits and dealt with Motross and the Gargonemas that the monster had summoned.

 **"Heaven's Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!"**

 **"Heaven's Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!"**

 **"The Hundred Heavens' greatest legend! Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger!"**

Shuichi extracted the blade of his Hyakureider and pointed it towards the Triske Monster. "Let's go! It's time we set up the right stage for this monster!"

Four of the Seitengers decided to deal with the Gargonemas which, of course, had surprised SeitenFire.

"We had enough of dealing with that monster," Eichirou said as slashed all of the Gargonemas coming after him and Shuichi.

"Besides," SeitenEarth spoke this time. "You're the one that he wanted to deal with."

"Don't worry, it doesn't mean that we're not going to support you," SeitenLight said as soon as she was done eliminating all the Gargonemas coming after her using a destructive sound spell.

When SeitenFire faced SeitenWind, she just smiled cheekily at him and gave him a thumbs up before destroying her own set of Gargonemas using her Falcon Wind Arrows.

The red warrior could only thank his friends in his mind before heading out to settle the duel he had with Motross for one last time. And he was going to make sure that it would definitely be the monster's last rampaging race.

"Ah, red guy. You've finally arrived. I was getting worried you decided to hide under a rock after that last race we had," Motross mocked with an annoying smirk on the monster's face.

However, SeitenFire remained unfazed with that. Instead, he took his Hyakureider and put the Heaven Lion Medallion into one of the slots without breaking his gaze to Motross. "Hide under a rock? You've really underestimated me, Triske Monster. But don't worry. I'll make sure you've never made a mistake about challenging the Fire of the Fang on a race to death."

"Oh? Now that's new to hear, especially coming from a puny human." Motross ended those words with a cynical laugh.

Sometimes, SeitenFire wished he was born with the same sense of humor that Eichirou had. But that would only make things crazier for the group if that truly happened. Dealing with Eichirou's unbelievable sense of humor even in a dire situation was more than enough for the Seitengers.

Pushing a button on his Hyakureider, SeitenFire recited the command right after that.

 **"Lion Motor, Build Up Start!"**

In seconds, the said vehicle in dark red color appeared before him. He couldn't help staring at the finished product in awe. There was indeed an immense change done to his favorite motorcycle, but not in a bad way. In fact, he liked it. The most distinctive change was the figure of a griffin in front of the motorcycle. He now knew that it was probably done in order to remind him of the two Vessel Spirits' powers that made this possible.

SeitenFire couldn't help smiling triumphantly inside his suit and nodded at the thought of thanking the cousins Kanako and Natsume, and even Akira later after this battle. With that, he boarded the said motorcycle and faced Motross with narrowed eyes.

However, around that same moment, a memory from his earlier encounter with Helen appeared in his mind...

 _"Is there something wrong?" It was the only question that Shuichi decided to ask when Helen called out to him as he was about to head out to where Motross was attacking._

 _Only a grave expression could be seen in Helen's face as she approached him. He saw her sigh before speaking. "You better prepare yourself about the other thing that might happen if Motross pushed your emotions to the limits again."_

 _At that, Shuichi frowned. "The other thing?"_

 _Helen only smiled reassuringly and nodded. "Don't worry, it's not something bad."_

 _"That's not exactly what I'm worried about. But the way you say it..."_

 _"Shuichi-san, every warrior has the chance to evolve or at least gain something as proof of their growth as protectors. Whatever will happen to you in continuation to the previous battle, your heart will eventually give you the answer that you're looking for."_

 _Helen was seriously becoming more cryptic by the minute with the way she was talking to him at the moment. But her eyes only showed the truth. No pretenses._

 _Around the same time, he finally understood what she had been trying to tell to him. Especially when the words "previous battle" came registering in his mind._

 _"You don't mean..."_

 _But Helen only nodded somberly. "Do whatever you can to grasp that one power lingering around you since that battle. I'm sure if you do that, no one will question your strength in achieving what you want to achieve_ _－_ _as long as it's something that truly belongs to you..."_

 **xxxxxx**

It seemed that sighing had been Helen's favorite hobby ever since her mission started in Tsukikage. At least, it was something she had observed over the past few days.

Just like before, Helen was observing the battle from a certain place. But upon remembering what she and Shuichi had talked about before he headed out to deal with Motross, she ended up taking out the unnamed cylindrical item in her possession from her pocket.

Once again, her gaze to it became melancholic upon realizing something. It only made her grip to the item tighten.

Surely, the Tareans had definitely began making things difficult to the chosen Vessels and there was no doubt about that. She already knew something like this would happen due to the fact that these Vessels were all unlike those that had preceded them. She looked up to the sky when no answer would appear in her mind at all.

"Mom... is this really how things are suppose to turn out for the Seitengers?"

It might be a foolish thing to do, talking to something or someone who would never answer back. But at the moment, none seemed to matter to Helen as long as she was able to voice those lingering thoughts out.

Soon after, she smiled confidently upon remembering the real reason why she was observing the previous battle with Motross through replaying the battle sequence.

"I guess their victory is already assured... as long as Shuichi-san finds a way to convince _him_ to help the Seitengers as a whole," Helen uttered as her smile lingered longer. And with that, she observed the duel between the two racers from her position.

 **xxxxxx**

The death race between SeitenFire and Motross commenced and it was indeed intense. Two motorcycles, both were powerful in their own rights, all out to defeat its rider.

The other four Seitengers were able to finish defeating the Gargonemas using another combined spell using the blade-less end of their Hyakureiders.

 **"Hyakurei Laser! Shoot!"**

Seconds later, they all destroyed of the scattered Gargonemas and even those that tried to approach the two racers just to make the race uneven.

"Now that it's done, I think we better check on Shuichi and that Motross," SeitenWater suggested that earned him a nod from the other Seitengers.

"Let's just prepare for whatever's going to happen or what Motross could possibly be planning just for that monster to win," SeitenWind said soon after.

"Can you think of a spell strong enough to break the barrier?" SeitenLight asked her brother.

"You know what? Let's think about that when Motross decided to cheat. For now, we'll let Shuichi-san handle everything on his end."

The rest could only agree to what SeitenEarth said and so they approach the area where the deadly race was happening.

Just like before, Motross had put up a barrier so that the race would not be interrupted. But it was something that SeitenFire had already anticipated. Though it frustrated the rest of the Seitengers, all they did was to watch Motross' movements as the Triske Monster raced with the red warrior. They couldn't help thinking that perhaps SeitenFire looked a lot like a modern knight with all that suit and the griffin-like vehicle.

While driving his motorcycle, there was a point in the race where SeitenFire decided to close his eyes. Even so, he was still able to keep up racing with Motross. In truth, the red warrior chose to concentrate. If what Helen told him was right, then he just needed to release that same emotion once again to prove the novelist's theory about that flash of light from before.

It didn't take long before Motross decided to heat up the race by firing beams once again towards the red warrior. SeitenFire did his best to avoid it and fire Lion Laser on his end. Of course, since he was aware that Motross had gotten stronger than last time, the speed of the beams fired towards him became faster. But to the monster's shock, the Lion Motor was able to withstand the attack and SeitenFire, despite the surprise and amazement he felt upon observing that, was still driving it. The monster fired beams once again, with each beams that the vehicle had deflected only added frustration to Motross.

But still, it didn't bring down either of the Lion Motor or SeitenFire.

"Now I declare that those three Vessel Supports are all hell of geniuses," SeitenWater commented with a chuckle due to their observation about the race.

 **ーーーーーー**

It turned out that the reason for SeitenFire to close his eyes while driving was because he was trying to remember something with regards to his first encounter with the Triske Monster, specifically about the part when a red flash of light came from the lotus symbol on his helmet.

 _ **"I could lend you my powers, you know..."**_

SeitenFire's eyes snapped open upon hearing that. Not to mention that he actually felt like he wasn't in the race anymore. Even so, he remained focused on that voice. Perhaps this was the answer he was actually looking for.

"How can you even do that?" he couldn't help asking as he concentrated once again.

 _ **"You only need to recall the exact feeling you had before that flash of light appeared to you..."**_

SeitenFire couldn't help laughing in his mind. It was exactly what Helen said to him. But at the moment, he needed to do what he must. Once again, SeitenFire closed his eyes and did what the voice had told him so. And much to his surprise, it didn't take him long to figure out the answer.

Though his initial purpose at the time was to defeat the Triske Monster and make it pay for doing those horrible things to the victims and even to his fellow Seitengers, the real driving force he had at the time was his desire to settle it in his own way, in a way that he loved the most. His fiery passion over motorcycle racing, over one of his dreams, that he managed to apply to his duel with Motross was his real driving force.

"That's it, isn't it? The answer that you were looking for from me," SeitenFire said soon after realizing all that.

 _ **"Way to go, Fang of the Fire."**_ The voice in his head echoed once again, with pride this time.

With that, his helmet flashed an even brighter red light which also distracted Motross. This had only caused the monster to crash on a nearby light post. The other Seitengers were surprised when that bright light soon intensified that it became harder for them to see the situation.

"Woah! What's happening out there?" SeitenWater queried but he remained shielding his eyes with an arm even though he already closed them a while back.

"The light... This is no ordinary light," SeitenEarth commented as he, too, struggled to keep his eyes open because of the brightness around the racing area.

"Since when did anything related to Seitengers and Tareans ever become ordinary?" SeitenLight couldn't help saying that only earned her a glare from her brother and laugh from both SeitenWater and SeitenWind.

As it was happening, SeitenFire noticed a floating red orb slowly coming down to him and soon stopping in front of him.

"Could this be...?"

Though cautious, he still took it and moments later, that orb of light changed shape. It soon formed a medallion similar to that of his Vessel Medallion. But instead of a lion head, the figure placed on that new medallion was something he soon recognized as the head of a condor.

"Okay... Every moment about this light is getting weirder and weirder."

Even so, it didn't take him long to figure out what this new medallion on his hand was.

"So this is the Guardian Medallion." Though the light hadn't dissipated just yet, for some reason, SeitenFire could still see things around him. At the moment, he didn't hesitate to finally do what he had to.

SeitenFire placed the medallion into its designated slot on the Hyakureider and he soon pushed the green button. He faced the still struggling Motross after that and without hesitation, approached the said Triske Monster. The blade of his Hyakureider emitted a fire-like glow as the red warrior began to charge towards Motross.

 **"Thriving Fire!"** With that spell cried, he continuously struck the monster until he made sure that Motross won't be able to fight anymore. Not long after he laid his final strike on it, the motorcycle part of Motross' body exploded and SeitenFire was able to get away from there before it all happened.

Moments later, he could see that the dome the monster created was also destroyed after that. It was only when SeitenFire finally managed to heave a sigh of relief, even though he knew that it wasn't exactly over. Turned out, he was right because he saw a dark orb starting to converge before exploding, thus soon revealing a giant Motross.

But before he could even approach it, he saw his teammates running towards his direction. They placed themselves on both his sides and stared at the Triske Monster.

"How is it that we have to deal with an Unsealed version of this racing lunatic again, huh?" SeitenWater complained the moment he stopped beside SeitenFire.

"There's nothing new with that. Get used to it already," SeitenEarth placidly replied that only made SeitenLight laugh.

"How about we end this together?" SeitenWind asked with a smile towards SeitenFire. The red warrior just nodded and positioned to a stance along with the other Seitengers.

Placing their Vessel Medallions and pushing the required button, the warriors raised their Hyakureiders to the sky.

 **"Spirit Summon, Start!"**

One by one, the five Grand Vessel Spirits appeared from the portal and went down towards their respective Seitenger partners. The warriors boarded their respective Grand Vessel Spirits and soon placed their blade-less Hyakureider once they were all inside of it.

 **"Utsuwa Gattai! Formation Build Up!"**

At that command, the Grand Vessel Spirits began changing their forms in order to create a formation consisting of their bodies. Firion, Sereo, Terraiger, Skylon, and Dovight all began changing to their respective shapes to form the giant robot, poised and ready to battle the Triske Monster's Unsealed Form.

 **"Heavenly Guardian King, Descend! SeitenOh!"**

When their robot was all poised and ready to fight, they began charging towards Motross in order to end the battle. But what they didn't expect was the speed the Triske Monster gained after becoming an Unseal. Before the Seitengers knew it, they were having a hard time dealing with the monster's speed as it kept on charging towards SeitenOh in a flash.

"Okay, this is not exactly what I signed up for when this monster became an Unseal!" SeitenWater complained as he struggled to stand up and gripped his Hyakureider on the podium.

"None of us expected this so stop complaining and let's just think of a way to defeat this nuisance," SeitenEarth replied.

It was then that the medallion with the condor head that SeitenFire was holding glowed, in which the others soon noticed and once again, bright enough to distract the Triske Monster.

"Uh... What's that?" SeitenWind asked but no one answered.

Moments later, the glow subsided before projecting a figure of a big red condor in front of the Seitengers that surprised all of them.

"That was you, wasn't it? The one who talked to me inside my head while I was racing with Motross a while back," SeitenFire inquired in order to make sure.

The condor nodded. _ **"That's right, my chosen warrior. And you've just earned the right for you to finally use my powers, just as your predecessor had done once before. Though I never thought it would take me 25 years to finally meet you."**_

"25 years? That long?"

"Who are you, anyway?"

 _ **"I am an Elemental Guide residing in the Realm of the Hundred Heavens and can only be summoned once my chosen warrior have proven his worth to possess my powers. Though mostly known by my title "Thriving Condor of the Flame", my name is Condire. Pleased to make your acquiantance-"**_ the condor said as it faced the other four Seitengers. _**"-and your allegiance, as well."**_ These last words were all said as it eyed SeitenFire.

"You said that I earned the right to use your powers," SeitenFire said. "How?"

 _ **"The same way you're all summoning your Grand Vessel Spirits, of course. What else? We Vessel Spirits do live in the same realm, after all."**_

Despite the slight sarcasm detected in the Elemental Guide's voice, SeitenFire could only laugh at that. He soon faced his teammates who only gave him encouraging nods before deciding to do what was needed to be done.

This time, however, instead of pushing the red button of his Hyakureider, SeitenFire pushed the white one.

 **"Spirit Summon, Start!"**

It didn't take long before a red condor in its mechanical form appeared from a portal above and soared towards SeitenOh. To the Seitengers' surprise, the condor mech soon changed shape and in a matter of seconds, it transformed into a bazooka that SeitenOh took hold the moment it floated in front of him.

 **"Fire Condor Knight, Descend! SeitenOh Condire!"**

"Shuichi-san!"

"This is unbelievable!" SeitenWater exclaimed and tapped the red warrior's shoulder who still couldn't speak because of all the development happening to them all at the same time.

"Well, what are we waiting for? It's time to kick some monster racer's butt," Collin declared that, even though she initially earned incredulous stares from the older Seitengers, soon made all of them laugh.

"Let's go!"

With that, the bright glow dissipated and no chance to waste, SeitenOh Condire began firing blast after blast towards Motross. Each blast coming from SeitenOh's new weapon was nothing that all of them had anticipated, especially in terms of speed.

"W-what is this?!" Motross could only say in pain as the new weapon continued to blast the monster with power unlike it ever encountered before.

Which was why Motross couldn't do anything since it was hard for the monster to beat the speed of the shots coming from the bazooka. When the Triske Monster was weakened, the Seitengers decided to cast their finishing attack as they combined their Hasureiki with that of SeitenOh.

"Ready, guys?"

The rest nodded before they took out their respective Hyakureiders from its respective podiums and charged it with their respective Hasureiki. SeitenOh, in turn, positioned once the bazooka started charging, as well.

 **"Flame Condor Blazing Judgment!"**

Four fireball-like energy formed in front of the bazooka's mouth and moments later, was fired towards the struggling Motross. It didn't take long for the Triske Monster to be destroyed and finally disappear, thus ending the death race challenge that it made to the red warrior.

SeitenFire didn't mind SeitenWater pouncing on him once again and hugging him tight because of the blue warrior's amazement. He soon faced SeitenEarth who only gave him a tap on his shoulder and beaming smiles coming from the two female warriors.

"You did it," SeitenWind said soon after.

SeitenFire just nodded.

"And the winner... the Fire of the Fang!" SeitenWater declared almost loud that only earned him a smack from SeitenEarth.

"Stage set!"

SeitenFire could only heave a heavy sigh of relief as soon as it was over. With his teammates happy that their current ordeal was over, he looked at the Guardian Medallion inserted into the slot of his HyakuReiDer.

"Thank you so much for helping us, Condire," SeitenFire said and even bowed to it.

 _ **"What are you talking about, SeitenFire? You're already my chosen master, and you've proven to me that even in the midst of the situation before, you can use the power of your own dreams to reach your goal. Whether to defeat the enemy or just find a way to deal with the problem, I'm just glad you didn't falter and give up."**_

Inside SeitenFire's suit, it could be seen that Shuichi couldn't help smiling at the words he heard from Condire. "You know there's no way I would give up, especially if it's about racing. I'm not going to let some monster beat me to it."

The red warrior soon heard Condire laughed. _**"Well, if you Seitengers ever need my help again, just summon me. I'll come anytime."**_

"Thank you very much, Condire-san," SeitenLight said politely and even bowed to the said Elemental Guide.

The other Seitengers also expressed their delight and gratitude to Condire soon after. But if there was one more person that SeitenFire would like to thank for, it was Helen. Despite the suspicion that Itsuki had about her, SeitenFire was willing to set the tension aside if it means having Helen as their new comrade who would help them with their battle against the Tareans.

 **xxxxxx**

The only thing the other Vessels could do as they walked was to look at the Fire Condor Medallion that Shuichi was also looking at in awe. The damage done to the civilians was already resolved, thanks to them fully defeating Motross. Kanako, Akira and Natsume also confirmed to the Vessels about the state of the other victims who were at the hospital.

"So this is a Guardian Medallion, huh? I can't believe Shuichi-san was able to gain a new power. What made you do that, anyway?" Itsuki couldn't contain his excitement (still reserved, though) when he asked that to the biker.

Shuichi smiled as he looked at the composer and made the Guardian Medallion disappear from his hand. "If I were to base it on what happened today, gaining the trust and approval of an Elemental Guide is something that needs a greater reason for you to fight. Whether it's passion or dreams that we have."

"But from what I know, none of us still have any idea about the Elemental Guides at all. Only the Guardian Medallions were mentioned to us, and briefly at that. How did you know that it was an Elemental Guide?" This time, it was Eichirou who asked that.

Shuichi stopped walking that made the others do the same. When the other Vessels looked at Shuichi, they saw him looking at the sky now stained with purple color because of the shadow cast by the clouds surrounding the setting sun. They couldn't help frowning at the sight of his serious face.

Though they've known him to be a serious person, this was something rare to see. It was like... he remembered something melancholic.

"It was Helen who mentioned this to me," Shuichi replied soon after. "This was the real reason why she was replaying the earlier footage of my race with Motross."

"That girl really knew a lot about our business now, huh?" Itsuki couldn't help commenting.

"So you're saying that she had an idea that it was an Elemental Guide who gave off that light from the previous fight?" Misae asked the question.

But Shuichi still continued talking without looking at the others. "She said that each of us owns a Guardian Medallion, and as we know, it was the second classification of the Spirit Power Medallions. Each of the Guardian Medallions can only be summoned and allow us to awaken its powers when the spirit residing it—which, of course, you now know that it was the Elemental Guide—would react to a certain strong emotion that we possess. Like I told you a while back, it's supposed to be an emotion strong enough that gives us a reason to fight."

"If you ask me, that's a really complicated thing to think about," Eichirou said after a few moments. "But it's still amazing! Each of us own a Guardian Medallion? Now I can't wait to see mine and meet the Elemental Guide it represents."

The others could only smile at that. Eichirou wasn't the only one who felt that way. The others, as well.

"I guess that's one proof that our Hasureiki is starting to evolve. Awakening the powers of the Elemental Guide spirit residing in the Guardian Medallions is not an easy task," Itsuki said before getting serious, as well. "But that Helen..."

"Onii-chan! Not again," Erika complained, speaking for the first time.

Itsuki sighed and faced his sister. "I can't help it, okay? Things had gotten a little rockier than usual for us ever since she arrived here. She knew more than what she was telling us and I need to know what they are. If she truly knew a lot of things about the Vessels and the Heavenly Spirit Guardians, then I need to know the extent of her knowledge with regards to that. Maybe after that... I'd change my mind about my impression to her."

The pianist just sighed resignedly. Her brother could really be hardheaded sometimes that she was thinking how on earth did she bear with it all this time. But Itsuki had a point and she couldn't help it if he was really suspicious about Helen. As for her, she was aware that Helen had some reasons why she wasn't saying anything about what she knew to them. For now, she'd let it be so things won't get messier than usual for all of them.

Minutes later, they finally reached the Mizuhashi mansion and all of them were tired from the battle. Hideoki welcomed them with a smile and told them that he had prepared snacks. Of course, Eichirou already went ahead that the other Vessels had to run just to reach the dining room where the snacks were. But before Shuichi could proceed, he looked out to the garden and there, he saw someone familiar.

"Helen?" he muttered and decided to approach the young novelist.

When he finally reached the place, he was surprised to see her sleeping on the table using her arms as pillow and her laptop was still open.

"It's almost night time and yet, she's still here. She could end up getting sick because of this."

But even so, he still smiled. Until now, he couldn't believe that Helen was the famous Hanasaki Kikue. For a girl like her, she had truly achieved a lot at her age. Just like Erika and Misae. But perhaps that achievement came to her with a price. He still couldn't process the fact that Helen was an orphan just like him. And to think she became an orphan at an early age.

Shuichi decided to approach the sleeping Helen. When he finally reached her and checked what was on the laptop's screen, he smiled when he saw that it was the draft of the novel that she was writing. Does this girl ever rest from writing? But then, he couldn't help anticipating a possible new novel from Hanasaki Kikue. For sure, it would be a hit once again.

He soon ended up deciding to save the file and shut the laptop down. He looked at the sleeping girl who was wearing the jacket he brought for her. Before leaving, he removed the racer jacket he was wearing and placed it on Helen's back since it was bigger and could protect her somehow from the cold.

"Thank you, Hanasaki-sensei, for saving me," Shuichi whispered to the sleeping Helen and slightly caressed her hair.

He was supposed to take a step away from there so that he could head to the dining room. But before he left her there, he eyed the six-winged cylindrical item intently that was placed on the table. Helen called it the "Astral Shifter". But the functions were barely his concerns at the moment. Was it really a coincidence that the same six-winged figure was also embroidered on the jacket that he brought for Helen in which she was now wearing?

At the same time, he couldn't help wondering why he felt something strange about that device. He couldn't explain the exact description for him to describe the sensation as strange, though. But even so, he could truly feel something powerful about that device, without a doubt. Could this be the feeling that Itsuki had possibly sensed for the composer to question Helen's true reasons for her to go to the mansion just like that?

He surely had a lot of questions about all this. But perhaps the answers would be revealed in time to them. For now, he'd just let things flow as they were supposed to.

"Hey, Shuichi! Hurry up or Eichirou-san will eat your share!" he heard Misae called out that soon brought him out of his reverie.

"You're mean, Mi-chan!" Eichirou whined and the others' laughter soon followed.

Shuichi sighed and shook his head to shrugged off those thoughts for now. He would probably deal with the issue later on.

 **End of Episode 4**

 _ **Next time on Utsuwa Sentai Seitenger:**_

 _It was Mariko's birthday and Eichirou wanted to do something special for his dead mother's special day. The others wanted to help their friend with regards to the said occasion but for some reason, Eichirou insisted on doing it alone which confused the others. One of the letters that came before those for Hideoki was about a photo exhibit of his mother's most notable works in fashion designing. But for him to be able to put that into action, he would be needing the help of Odagawa Haruna, Mizuhashi Mariko's apprentice. Another problem came when a Triske Monster began attacking the location of the exhibit. Haruna seemed to have held a grudge against Mariko after her death because people still see her as an apprentice and not as a fashion designer with her own identity in the fashion world. One of the dresses that Haruna did as a favor for him brought back not just the real reason why both of them were pursuing their dreams, but had also awakened a deeper power in Eichirou that he never thought he had all this time._


	8. Vessel 5 (Narrated Episode)

_**This is just the narrated version of the episode. I decided to do this for now just until I could post the full episode which is something that might take some time to write and finish so bear with me for a while, okay? By the way, I'm sorry for not updating in a while since a lot of things had happened that kept me away from writing any of the stories. Not to mention that those "things" had made me really bummed for days now. For real.**_

 **Vessel 5: Still Photos (Narrated Episode)**

 **Part 1**

When the Vessels woke up that one morning, they noticed that Hideoki was busy tending the garden which was quite a rare sight for them. Soon after, Nanami arrived and told them that it was a habit that Hideoki had whenever Mariko's birthday would arrive. It was then that they remembered that it was indeed Mariko's birthday. But this was the first time in ten years that they saw Hideoki tended the garden. The usual person who would do that would be Eichirou or Akira. Along with that, Eichirou was nowhere to be seen in the mansion. Nanami told them that the photographer headed out earlier in order to prepare for a photo exhibit to be held two days from that time.

That photo exhibit, as Amuro had guessed before, was mentioned in one of the letters sent to the Mizuhashi mansion a week before the letters for Hideoki arrived. Since the anniversary of Mizuhashi Mariko's debut to the fashion world fell on the day after her birthday, Eichirou decided to do the exhibit on that day. He has one plan for that day and that was for him to be able to talk to someone who had a big part in his mother's life. But he only had one problem, though. The person he needed to talk to didn't appear to his family since his mother's death. And he was somehow aware of the fact that the said person held a certain amount of grudge against Mariko. While thinking of something to do to put his plans in motion, he saw Helen looking at one of the paintings hanging by the lobby.

As it was happening, Nemia confronted Orcus inconspicuously with regards to his last statement about one of the Seitengers gaining more power—-which was SeitenFire's Guardian Medallion and its corresponding Elemental Guide. Orcus noted that only three of the previous Seitengers were able to achieve that. When the shinobi asked the scholar with regards to a plan that could take the Seitengers down and stop further growth of powers, Orcus didn't say anything. Soon after, it was Karkino who decided to release one of the Triske Monsters under his command to cause chaos to the surface world.

Helen left the building long before Eichirou could even approach her. Having his head filled with curiosity with regards to the painting in question, he decided to approach it. To his confusion, it was the painting of a woman dressed in white. The painting seemed to be ancient, so he asked the manager of the building about it. He learned that the painting was placed there as soon as Mariko received it from a client who gave it to her as a celebratory gift for her debut. Upon looking at it carefully, Eichirou was surprised to see the Hundred Heavens' lotus symbol drawn on the ball of light that the woman in the painting was holding. He was supposed to ask the manager about the identity of the client who gave the painting to his mother, but he was soon interrupted with the beeping coming from his Celestial Shifter, indicating that another Tarean attack was happening.

 **Part 2**

At the same time, the other Vessels were alerted about the attack with their Celestial Shifters. When they checked the location, they realized that it was a building where most of the famous exhibits and fashion shows were held over the years. Kanako told them that it was also the building where Eichirou was planning to set up his own photo exhibit in commemoration to Mizuhashi Mariko's debut in the fashion world. When the other four Vessel arrived, they saw quite an amount of people seemingly petrified but when they touched them, they were still warm, unlike that of people turned to stone. When they looked around to find Eichirou, they saw the blue warrior fighting quite a large group of Gargonemas while trying to fend them off from the other people in the area who weren't affected. Soon after, a Triske Monster they knew as Macera that was responsible for petrifying the people appeared to them. This forced the other Vessels to transform and fight the monster. While it was happening and when SeitenWater finally destroyed the Gargonemas he was fighting, he ordered the people who weren't petrified to leave the building before the monster could petrify them. One of those people, however, refused to leave—-especially when that person soon recognized him as the son of the famous fashion designer Mizuhashi Mariko. That person was the apprentice of his dead mother, Ogawada Haruna. But before SeitenWater could say something about that, he sensed Macera turned to them and used its camera-like weapon to send a light beam towards him and Haruna. Around the same time the lotus symbol on his helmet emanated a flash of blue light, he fired a barrage of ice attack and to his surprise, SeitenLight used that as a medium to cast her light attack. This move made Macera retreat, but not without leaving them a warning about the fates of the petrified victims.

As soon as they made sure that Macera stopped its attack for the time being and that the victims were placed in a room where they would be protected somehow, the woman named Haruna approached Eichirou who had just disabled his transformation. It was a relief that she didn't ask anything about his Seitenger identity that he neither confirmed nor denied to her. Unfortunately, Eichirou didn't manage to tell her his plans for the commemoration exhibit since Haruna seemed to have already stated her answer with anything related to Mizuhashi Mariko. After that, she left him there a little speechless and at the same time, confused because of Haruna's actions and attitude. What happened for her to become like that?

Minus Eichirou, the rest of the Vessels returned to the mansion to figure out what to do to save the victims within the 12-hour limit that Macera gave. Initially, they doubted that but Akira and even Hideoki confirmed that it was the truth with the help of the records they managed to pull out from the heart of the Hoshizora Bookstore. Aside from that, their other concern was Eichirou's actions. Hideoki and Nanami told them the story about Mariko when she was younger and also about her connection to the person named Odagawa Haruna that Eichirou was talking to and had saved a while back. While it was happening, Itsuki and Shuichi was thinking of a way to counter Macera's petrifying flashing light attack. With that, they remembered the two attacks that made the monster retreat. As for Misae, she couldn't help feeling worried about Eichirou since she was able to sense a tense atmosphere between the photographer and Haruna while the battle was happening. Along with that, the three Vessels also recalled the sudden flashing of blue light coming from the symbol on the top of SeitenWater's helmet. But only Shuichi knew what it could possibly mean.

Meanwhile, the gathered energy coming from the petrified humans' hopelessness was pouring down to the still slumbering emperor. Though it was enough to make Emperor Darshao open his eyes and talk to his retainers, it still wasn't enough to make him stand up and move completely. Of course, that caused another frustration to the said Tarean leader but since he was still unable to move properly, the emperor could only growl with his leaking powers enough to cause thunder and lightning to roar and strike around the Fortress of Screams once again. While this was happening, Karkino ordered Macera once more to petrify humans and if possible, even the Seitengers. However, just like the previous attack, Orcus sensed that something was about to happen to the Seitengers' growing powers.

 **Part 3**

Erika, on the other hand, was talking to Helen instead of listening to the others' discussions with regards to their plans about the Triske Monster's next attack and even Eichirou. The pianist had a different concern, though, and she felt that only Helen could give the answer she needed to her. The novelist was more than willing to help her friend, especially when she realized what was bothering Erika for her not to pay attention to her brother and the other two Vessels. The issue had something to do with the painting that Helen was looking at earlier that day. What the two girls didn't know was that Eichirou had been listening to them the entire time. He just arrived from his talk with Haruna regarding his plans about the exhibit, which didn't turn out quite well. For some reason, he was able to hide his presence from the two girls whom he knew could detect Hasureiki and even other magical presence faster than he and the other Vessels could. It was then that he was able to realize the answer to his earlier question with regards to the painting. However, his realization only led to more questions rising with regards to what they were actually fighting for.

Eichirou decided to talk to Helen that same night when the others were still busy trying to think of a way to deal with Macera. To his confusion, the girl he was looking for wasn't in the guest room that Hideoki let her use for the meantime. When Erika saw him coming out of Helen's room, she inquired him of his reasons to go there. Eichirou didn't go around the bush and told the pianist that he heard the conversation between her and Helen. To his surprise, Erika wasn't angry about him eavesdropping. She told him that she did have some plans of telling everyone about what had been bothering her for the past few days that she was keeping a secret. But certain questions must be answered for now before she could even mention it. Taking it as an opportunity, Eichirou decided to ask Erika for an advice about his own problem. She was more than willing to lend an ear and help one of her other older brothers in any way she could.

The next day, Eichirou went out again which didn't surprise the other Vessels. Even though they knew the reason he did that, they still couldn't help feeling worried for their friend. But they tried to focus on one other important matter at hand, and that was dealing with Macera and how would they be able to counter the monster's attack the next time it decided to cause trouble. Meanwhile, Eichirou went back to the building and instead of heading to the room where his photos would be displayed for the exhibit, he decided to go to the room where Haruna's fashion show would be held. But as soon as he entered, she saw Haruna alone on the stage while looking wistfully at a certain dress that was quite familiar to him. It was then that he approached the woman and chose to talk to her again. Even though Haruna gave him another rather grumpy treatment, Eichirou pointed out one thing that he noticed about her and her so-called grudge against her mother. He bluntly pointed it out that made her finally gave up her façade and allowed her to finally tell the reason why she was feeling that way. In the middle of that, he challenged her to create a design of the dress that would reflect everything she was feeling about her dreams, even with the image of his dead mother still acting as her obstacle.

What Eichirou didn't know was that his father Hideoki went to the building, as well. But the former historian had a different agenda. Together with another middle-aged man who was soon learned to be Kanako's father Tsukimori Genma, the two of them took the painting in question with the building manager's permission. In fact, it was stated in one of Mariko's last wills that she handed to the manager before totally succumbing to her illness. Not only that, they also discovered another painting almost similar to the one they took. Only this time, the figure in the painting was representing something entirely different—-something that they never realized had existed all this time. But the question that lingered in both men's minds was: Why did Mariko comes up with a decision to hide the two mysterious paintings in one location that could easily be spotted?

 **Part 4**

As it was happening, another Tarean attack was happening that Macera was conducting to the city. This time, a greater number of Gargonema was attacking the citizens and destroying everything along the way. A lot of people were already doing their best to escape from there. However, there were some who remained there in order to help the others escape. Among them were Amuro, his uncle Yushiro, Natsume and Akira. Macera saw this and took this as a chance to attack the said people. But before that could happen, a pink flash of light distracted the Triske Monster and also blocked the attack that was supposed to petrify the four people just trying to help out. When the two teenagers looked around to see what could have caused that, they only saw a fading silhouette of a pink lotus symbol in front of the nearly petrified monster. Even though they took that as an opportunity to escape, that event began searing in Amuro's mind that would soon make him come up with a crazy idea on his own.

It was around the same time that the Vessels' Celestial Shifters beeped, alerting them of the danger that was currently happening. Despite being in different locations, the Vessels already knew what to do. Shuichi and Itsuki left the mansion together with Misae. Erika, who was staying in the garden doing her own thinking during the whole time, also left the mansion—-though she did that a little ahead of the others since she was sure that Helen was probably checking the area for some other things related to what they had talked about the other day.

The five Vessels arrived at the area that the Tareans targeted. More people had been petrified and they just arrived in time to hear that Macera ordered the Gargonema to destroy the petrified victims immediately. But the Vessels were able to prevent that before it could happen. They transformed and began fighting off the Gargonemas attempting to kill the petrified humans. When the Seitengers managed to finish off all of the Gargonemas, Macera started shooting light beams towards them. Just like before, SeitenWater and SeitenLight were able to deflect it with their combined powers. However, the Triske Monster already anticipated this and so it was able to cast a light beam attack more powerful than the previous one that could immediately pulverize anything that the beam would hit. The Seitengers managed to evade the first attack but not the second one wherein SeitenWater's ice barrier couldn't even deflect it. The second attack that hit the team destroyed the barrier and disabled their transformation, injuring them in the process. Macera was about to hit a third beam to the injured Vessels when Eichirou's Celestial Shifter emanated a bright blue glow that even distracted the Triske Monster and unable to comprehend what was going on.

Hideoki and Genma, together with the latter's daughter Kanako, were able to watch the ongoing battle from a certain distance. The three of them were surprised to see another Seitenger awakening the spirit of another Elemental Guide just right after Shuichi awakened his own. Genma and Kanako noted that such feat had never happened before in the history of the Vessels and even of the Seitengers. Hideoki couldn't help feeling proud for his son who had achieved such a thing even though the Vessels had just began their training in Reikarajutsu. The Mizuhashi head nodded as he recalled his conversation with Helen before who commented that the current chosen Vessels could surpass the chosen Vessels before them in terms of the growth of their respective Hasureiki.

 **Part 5**

While the monster was distracted, it was a different case for Eichirou. He could see things around him clearly despite the bright light emanating from his Shifter. That was why he was able to discern a glowing orb floating a little above him and slowly coming down until it stopped in front of the photographer. Even though he was hesitating, he took that glowing orb and soon after, it morphed into a shape similar to that of the Spirit Power Medallions. He was right when he guessed that it was indeed his own Guardian Medallion, and the spirit of the Elemental Guide inside of it was called the Whirling Walrus of the Sea named Waliver. When Eichirou asked why the Elemental Guide decided to show itself to him, the spirit responded by showing him a childhood memory that featured him together with his mother when she was still alive. It was the time when he finally knew what he wanted to do in his life and what dream he decided to pursue even with the image of the famous Mizuhashi Mariko linked to him and would be usually used as an obstacle for him. But he wasn't deterred by that. In fact, he used that as his medium to fulfill both his own dream and that of his fathers—-which was to let Mariko still live on through his works as he made a name to himself unique to him. It was his determination to never let the memories destroy his own dream that finally made Waliver decide to show itself and fight together with the currently chosen Vessel of the Heavenly Water Spirit Guardians' Powers. Using that newfound power, SeitenWater singlehandedly defeated Macera, undoing the spell put on to the petrified victims and allowing them to move again. But soon after, Macera's scattered dark energy gathered and made the monster turn into its own giant form. It didn't take long for the Seitengers to summon their Grand Vessel Spirits and had the five mecha combine to form SeitenOh. They tried fighting the monster using the regular means but Macera's flashing light attack kept on distracting and had already petrified both of SeitenOh's legs. Though the robot could still stand, it was in a pinch since the Seitengers couldn't move it from its position to attack. SeitenFire soon suggested using the power of SeitenWater's Elemental Guide. Waliver agreed and the blue warrior soon summoned it. The said Elemental Guide transformed into a halberd and combined with SeitenOh, forming SeitenOh Waliver. With the weapon taller than the robot, and SeitenEarth estimated the distance between SeitenOh and Macera, the Seitengers took this as an opportunity to soon cast their finishing attack using the Waliver Halberd called "Sea Walrus Soul Divide". This attack sliced Macera into two and got detroyed before it could even do anything to attack the Seitengers again.

Hideoki saw Haruna just watching the battle on a safer place that Eichirou told her. The woman said an apology to the man with her attitude towards his son and even to Mariko's memories who accepted it wholeheartedly since he was able to tell that she was indeed sincere about it. Haruna asked the former historian about Eichirou's alter ego but Hideoki was mum when it comes to the issue and she respected that somehow. But when she asked about the real reason why Mariko died, Hideoki didn't hesitate to tell her that she died because it was her choice "in order to protect the people who were destined to fulfill an ancient mission".

Both Haruna and Eichirou agreed to do the photo exhibit and the fashion show in one location since both artists were dedicating it to one person who had always become their inspiration to pursue their dreams. The owner of the building where the two exhibit held happened to be a former historian named Taiga Mitsuharu in which, to Eichirou's surprise, was someone that his father knew. A lot of important people and dignitaries attended the event, especially those who still admire and adore the works of Mizuhashi Mariko even though she was gone for a long time now. The other Vessels also made an appearance to the public as a sign of showing their support to the son of their guardian and at the same time, their friend.

After the exhibit, Hideoki and Eichirou went to Mariko's grave and paid respect to the woman who made them continue to hold on to their dreams even if she wasn't there with them anymore. But in the middle of it, they both felt something weird about the place. Eichirou, in particular, kept on hearing water ripples despite the fact that there wasn't any puddle around the area. When he concentrated further, he could hear his mother's voice from those ripples calling him and warning him, as well. Around the same time, Itsuki heard the voice that was from his dream while he was at the rooftop of the building—-the one that belonged to an older woman from before. When he turned around, he saw a transparent vision of a beautiful woman wearing a long white dress whom he had never met before.


	9. Vessel 6 (Narrated Episode)

_**This is just the narrated version of the episode. I decided to do this for now just until I could post the full episode which is something that might take some time to write and finish so bear with me for a while, okay? I'm still in the middle of writing the full version of the fourth episode so I wasn't able to do an update on this one for a while.**_

 **Vessel 6: Song's Illusion (Narrated Episode)**

 **Part 1**

Though it was the usual morning to the Vessels, most of them had thought that something was still wrong. It was because of Itsuki's weird actions that they noticed had started right after Eichirou's photo exhibit. Even if the composer would say to the others that he was just fine and that nothing was wrong, his unusual silence said otherwise. As for the concerned person, his mind was still traveling back to that one time he saw that mysterious woman's apparition. And to make things weirder, that vision only mentioned the same thing as the one he would always hear in his dreams. However, there was an addition to that. She told him about the coming of another Vessel, one that could help them defy a tragic fate. Itsuki remembered that while they were supposed to train together with Helen who would help them when it comes to dealing with monsters specializing in casting illusions. They learned that Helen's Hasureiki allowed her to do the same thing.

In the middle of training, Itsuki decided to leave for a while without a word to the others and go to the lake where he would usually unwind. The dreams he would always see hadn't stopped bothering him. In fact, no one knew that the appearances of those dreams had escalated after the awakening of his powers as a Vessel. He was frustrated with the fact that even reading books doesn't help him that much anymore. When he finally reached the place, he took out the music sheet where the latest song he was trying to write and complete was placed. However, his head ached for some reason upon seeing a certain line of the song lyrics that he wrote there. That particular line was something that he would always hear in his dreams. Soon after, his mind's focus shifted to the newcomer Helen. Even he couldn't understand the reason why he was irritated at the sight of her when she hadn't even done anything bad to him, his sister, and his friends. To be honest, she had always been helpful to them. He knew that there was a plausible reason for him to feel something like that towards Erika's childhood friend. He just had to find that out.

Back at the Mizuhashi mansion, Misae decided to ask Helen if she knew the reason why Itsuki was being hostile (though not really that obvious) to her. But the young novelist just shrugged it off and Helen even said that she was used to it, which confused the others. They couldn't believe that Helen was taking the issue lightly whereas the rest couldn't even breathe properly because of the thick tension that would immediately surround them whenever Itsuki and Helen were in the same area. Erika voiced out her worries since it was really unusual for Itsuki to act that hostile towards anyone without any valid reason. And yet Helen just assured her childhood friend that it was okay and she shouldn't worry about anything with regards to the issue. Erika had thought of something when it comes to that, though. Confronting her brother might not be the best idea, but she had to know the truth about Itsuki's behavior towards her childhood friend. But Helen must not know about it.

In the Tareus Dimension, the five Great Shadow Defenders were frustrated by the fact that two of the Seitengers were able to get ahold of their Elemental Guides' powers in such a short time in which the previous Seitengers had never achieved before. In fact, it was a complete surprise to them. The gathered negative energies were not enough to fully awaken the emperor again and only the Triske Monsters could get in and out of the broken Tarean Seal for a given amount of time. Though Siriso was able to get out that one time, he was unable to do it again after that for some reason. Because of that, Orcus was able to figure out who among the Seitengers could possibly awaken another Elemental Guide's power. So he decided to bring out one of the Triske Monsters under his command with features largely resembled that of a combination between a lyre and a griffin.

 **Part 2**

While he was by the lake, Itsuki couldn't believe that he was able to finish another composition despite his mind being in pieces. He wasn't sure if he should be glad with that or not. When he looked at his finished composition, his heart hurt for some reason since it talked about one of his dreams about the young girl that usually appeared there ever since. As he was thinking things through, his phone rang. He was surprised and at the same time confused to receive a call from Kuraki Makoto who haven't seen in so long. But in the end, he decided to answer it since it was a rare chance after all. The man was his father's former piano student before he decided to focus on studying history under one of the famous historians in the country whom he only knew by the name Taiga Mitsuharu. What added more to the surprise he initially felt was the fact that Makoto was asking him as to what he thought about Helen. Though before he could ask more about it, the phone call was abruptly cut. Soon after, he heard a series of explosions coming from the nearby cell towers followed by his Celestial Shifter beeping.

Just as he thought, the Triske Monster had already made several cell towers explodes for some reasons, cutting off connections. When Itsuki reached the sight of the attack, he was surprised to see his friend untransformed, injured, and unconscious. He was about to approach them but stopped to his tracks abruptly when he couldn't detect anything from the ground. His eyes soon narrowed at one spot of the area before he took out his HyakuReiDer and fired several beams towards it. He was caught off-guard when all of a sudden, he saw that the unconscious Erika was the one who got hit by the beams. He was still debating within himself if he should trust his ability to detect disturbances using his powers over earth when a familiar voice echoed around the area. It was the voice of the young girl in his dreams. Itsuki asked who it was but no answer came. Around the same time, he felt a strong surge of Hasureiki coming from the ground. That sensation soon threw off the Triske Monster he felt was hiding from the spot he was firing beams at earlier. It appeared that the surge of Hasureiki was too much for the monster to contain and hide from him. Before he could even stop himself, he transformed into SeitenEarth and decided to fight the monster alone who introduced itself as the Triske Monster Otoguri. And from what he could tell, this one was an illusionist. At that moment, he regretted not listening and paying attention to Helen while she was discussing on certain counterattacks to deal with monsters able to cast illusions like that. SeitenEarth nearly succeeded in dealing with Otoguri on his own. But then a horrific vision of a young girl being chased and already injured distracted him completely. Otoguri took that as an opportunity to attack the green warrior. Itsuki's transformation was disabled and now he was the one who ended up injured because of the intensity of the attack.

At that same moment, the other Vessels reached the site of the attack and Misae was able to detect some disturbances in the air using her powers over wind. But what she was sure about was the fact that Misae was also able to detect Itsuki's Hasureiki in the area. Erika couldn't help feeling worried about her brother but their concerns at the moment was the Gargonemas that seemed to guard the area. But what she found weird was the fact that the cell towers in the area were destroyed for some reason. Why was that? Before she could find answers to that questions, the group was forced to fight the Gargonemas as Seitengers. SeitenFire and SeitenWater were busy trying to figure out of a way to destroy the barrier that trapped Itsuki inside while the two female Seitengers SeitenWind and SeitenLight were dealing with fighting the Gargonemas on their own. It was an easy task to the girls but not to the boys. It seemed that SeitenFire and SeitenWater's powers couldn't get through the barrier. Even the rest of the Seitengers' powers weren't enough to get through. At that moment, Helen arrived at the scene much to Erika's surprise and told them that the soundwaves and signal coming from the cell towers could possibly hold something that might help them defeat the Triske Monster responsible for putting up the barrier.

Inside the barrier, Itsuki was about to lose consciousness when that young girl's voice resonated once again, bringing him back to his senses. He couldn't help wondering about the identity of that young girl but before he became totally lost to it, another voice resonated in the area. This time, he knew it was from Helen. Her instructions made him able to throw an attack towards Otoguri that injured the said monster and destroy the barrier around the area that prevented his comrades to come and help him. But even if the monster retreated for the meantime, the vision of the young girl whose back was facing him didn't disappear. Warily, he asked for her identity even though a part of him was telling that it was futile. Slowly, the girl turned around and smiled at him. But that gesture alone had given him one of the greatest shocks of his life as it allowed him to know who was the girl that constantly appeared in his dreams since the fire. Not long after, the burden from Otoguri's previous attack took a toll on Itsuki's body and made him collapse. But before he completely lost consciousness, he heard his friends' voices calling to him. And yet the voice that stood out the most to him was that of Helen's. He even held her hand tight when she was about to touch him. The last words that came out of his mouth were: "You finally came to life."

 **Part 3**

Everyone was worried because of what happened to Itsuki. They couldn't believe that he had to deal with the Triske Monster alone in that illusion-filled barrier. Of course, it only made them wonder just what kind of illusions did Itsuki see inside. But what really concerned them the most was the last thing that Itsuki said to Helen before he passed out. At the moment, Erika became firm with her decision to talk to her brother as soon as he would wake up. Though Misae did her best to heal Itsuki, it seemed that the damage the monster had done was too much for her healing powers to cover up. As for Helen, she was just in one corner just staring at he unconscious Itsuki. What he said to her was truly confusing her but she was sure about one thing with regards to that. itsuki's voice was laced with fear. In the middle of her musing, Shuichi approached her and said that Itsuki always had the habit of confusing people. He even said that the next time the monster would appear, she should be there to protect him and help him deal with it. Perhaps she could be able to learn a thing or two from him when she do that.

As for those in the Tareus Dimension, some of the Great Shadow Defenders were in rage with regards to Orcus' plan of only targeting one Seitenger instead of the entire team. But the strategist remained silent and didn't take notice of his comrades' frustration. However, he was mystified by the fact that someone's voice was able to break through Otoguri's barrier and managed to instruct the green warrior on what to do. Now it was a question as to what kind of person had the ability to do such a feat in which only one of the seven Great Shadow Defenders could do. Orcus was sure of one thing, though. There was an illusionist among the Seitengers or probably even the Vessel Supports that had appeared in the present times. One that could possibly compete with the powers of their illusionist comrade.

It was night time already when Itsuki finally regained consciousness. He couldn't help cursing at himself for being so careless because of that one illusion that truly distracted him. But if what he had seen that time was the answer to the question that was bothering him for a long time, then perhaps he was left with no choice but to believe it. In the middle of that, the door of his room opened and soon revealed Erika carrying a tray of food for him. He smiled at her just to stop her from worrying too much but she was able to immediately see through him. The first thing he asked as soon as she served the food to him was Helen, which made her truly surprised. It was the first time that Itsuki looked for Erika's childhood friend. At that same time, Erika suddenly thought that perhaps it was the right time for her to ask Itsuki about the reason why he was treating Helen rather coldly. When she did, Itsuki hesitated to tell his sister the truth at first. But at the moment, he wanted her to know the real reason why he was acting like that towards Helen. And it wasn't even close to hate or disgust. It was fear because of his dreams about her. That was the first time Erika realized about the dreams that had been bothering Itsuki since the fire. And without a doubt, she was surprised to know all that. After making sure he ate all the food she served and that he was healed somehow, she told him where to find Helen.

With Erika's help since Itsuki was having some hard time keeping his balance, the Hoshiyama siblings went to where Helen was. It was in the heart of Hoshizora Bookstore where they found her reading something that was written on a scroll. When Helen saw the siblings, it was no doubt that she was surprised but still helped Itsuki sit somewhere so that he could rest since he was still recovering. The tension had formed again, without a doubt, now that Itsuki and Helen were in the same room. Erika decided to break it by asking about the scroll that Helen was reading. It turned out that the scroll was about a certain illusionist among the seven Great Shadow Defenders. When Itsuki asked about Helen's reason for reading that particular scroll, she just said that it had something to do with her mission. But she didn't elaborate on that topic any longer. Instead, Helen asked for the reason why the siblings were in the basement of the bookstore when Itsuki was supposed to be resting because of injuries and exhaustion. Without running around the bush, Itsuki asked if someone important to Helen was killed when she was a child and that she had witnessed it first hand. Of course, it surprised the girl and was hesitant to answer the question. Before she could even say anything, Itsuki added that a young girl had been appearing in his dreams since the hotel fire ten years ago. He explained the common details of the dreams he had with Helen in it. That was when she understood the reason why he asked that question. Just as she said parts of the details to Shuichi before, Helen mentioned that her parents were murdered in front of her when she was five—-by one of the Great Shadow Defenders whom she only knew could cast illusions. It was also possible that the same enemy was the one who killed the Hoshiyama siblings' parents and even Shuichi and Misae's parents that night, though there was nothing to confirm that as of the moment.

 **Part 4**

The next day, Itsuki went out earlier that confused Shuichi, Eichirou and Misae but not Erika. When the older Vessels asked the pianist about what she knew with regards to that, Erika only said that her brother needed guidance as it was possible that the monster would target Itsuki once again for some reason. As for Helen, she was still in the bookstore's basement reading a few more materials. This time, she was reading something relating to the Elemental Guides awakened by the previous Seitengers from 25 years ago. One of those Elemental Guides appeared to have the ability to show illusions to its chosen warrior as part of a test needed to awaken its full powers, just as how it was to both Shuichi and Eichirou when they awakened their own Elemental Guides and used the powers of the Guardian Medallions to deal with the enemy. This time, they were hoping that Itsuki could do the same to defeat Otoguri and perhaps answer a few questions with regards to the vision that Itsuki saw at that time about the young girl in his dreams being the younger version of Helen all along.

Otoguri's attack resumed and this time, it targeted several broadcast stations around the towns surrounding Tsukikage. Just as Helen had said, there was something about soundwaves that weakened the Triske Monster and Erika took advantage of it when she asked Helen to instruct Itsuki that day of what to do to stop Otoguri. Shuichi and Itsuki formulated a plan for them to deal with the monster and they were quite sure that Itsuki would be targeted once again, now that they knew who among the seven Great Shadow Defenders Otoguri was serving under. The Vessels arrived in time to stop Otoguri from destroying the radio station that lies in the western town border. But then, the monster soon summoned a greater number of Gargonema and even a few of two more groups of creatures that they had never seen before that were probably stronger than the Gargonemas. Itsuki was forced to deal with Otoguri alone once more, which only proved their theory that the monster was only targeting SeitenEarth for some reason. This time, Itsuki was more than ready to deal with the Triske Monster and he had Helen and Erika to thank for that.

Outside of the barrier that Otoguri put up to deal with SeitenEarth alone, the four Seitengers dealt with foot soldiers after foot soldiers using their HyakuReiDers and even their individual weapons. SeitenFire even dealt with them with the help of the Lion Motor that he missed using again since his battle with Motross. For a while, it was going well. But a short earthquake soon distracted the team and the remaining grunts took advantage of that to strike down the Seitengers altogether in a cannon attack. It did injure the group but wasn't enough to finish them all at once as a pink glow emanated all of a sudden from the ground that boosted the Seitengers' lost Hasureiki and enabled them to destroy all of the remaining grunt soldiers. However, even after that was done, the question about the source of that pink glow remained in the Seitengers' mind. SeitenFire concluded that it could only come from the same source as the one that helped them a lot of times before.

What the others didn't know was that the same pink glow emanated on the area where the monster's barrier was erected and that SeitenEarth was able to see it and distracted him from more illusions being showed to him as he tried his best to fight. But out of all the illusions that Otoguri had been showing him, the one that stood out was that of Helen's. And now he was sure where it came from. When the Triske Monster was about to fire an attack towards him, SeitenEarth closed his eyes instead and listened to the faint voice ringing in his mind. That voice was soon learned to belong to the third Elemental Guide named Bisearth—-an Elemental Guide able to project certain visions that revealed an important part of its chosen warrior's life. Itsuki soon found himself standing in the middle of a green field with the transparent figure of a green-colored bison waiting for him there. When he was able to approach the said figure, Itsuki immediately asked it about the reason why he was showing him that particular vision. Bisearth didn't hesitate to tell him the reason, that it was because Helen was connected to two people related to him. Though he knew Erika was the first person Bisearth was talking about, the Elemental Guide revealed that the second person was Itsuki's Seitenger predecessor who happened to be someone close to Helen. Of course, he was surprised to know that part. The vision of the younger (not to mention scared) Helen that Bisearth showed him at his first battle with Otoguri was something that made him realize a hidden emotion that could affect him in the future. And Itsuki realized that it was the same emotion he was feeling ever since his sister decided to continue becoming a Seitenger, also the very same emotion that he was able to convey through his recently finished composition. It was the immeanse fear for her life and safety since Helen was someone important to Erika. He doesn't know at the moment why he was feeling that way aside from that, but it was enough for him to become determined to fight that fear since he couldn't afford to let the same tragedy happen again where he lost the people important to him and his sister. With that, Bisearth gave his blessing for Itsuki to finally use its powers as an Elemental Guide in order for him to fight the Tareans and defeat Otoguri.

 **Part 5**

Aside from the pink glow coming from the ground that soon emanated brighter than how it was a while back, a green glow suddenly made the barrier burst and destroy that freed SeitenEarth from it. The rest of the Seitengers outside the barrier also did their best to help their friend destroy the barrier from their position and they succeeded. When the barrier was destroyed, they saw SeitenEarth holding a glowing medallion in which the others soon concluded that Itsuki had succeeded in awakening his Elemental Guide. And just as expected, with the help of his Elemental Guide, SeitenEarth was able to defeat Otoguri singlehandedly. SeitenEarth remembered something that Helen said with regards to that illusionist Elemental Guide, that it had the ability to unleash the powers hidden within a Vessel coming from his greatest emotion. That was how he was able to figure out that fear for losing another important person was the reason why he was treating Helen that way. He feared for her life that she already put on the line as she decided to do her best to help the Vessels in their battle with the Tareans. Not long after, Otoguri's second persona emerged and was ready to destroy the Seitengers but they managed to summon their respective Grand Vessel Spirits just in time that had saved them from being crushed by the giant monster. The five of them combined to become SeitenOh and used it to fight Otoguri. Since SeitenEarth was already familiar of the Triske Monster's tactics in using illusion, he was able to do something to counter it with the help of SeitenWater and SeitenWind's Hasureiki that they channeled through SeitenOh. But they never anticipated an ever more powerful illusion attack coming from Otoguri that pushed them back. Though it was an already frustrating situation, SeitenEarth tried his best to calm himself and instead asked Bisearth to lend its powers to SeitenOh in order to finish the monster. The Elemental Guide didn't hesitate in doing so, and with SeitenEarth's command, Bisearth combined with SeitenOh after transforming into twin axes with the rest of its parts becoming a helmet and a chest armor to the robot that soon formed SeitenOh Bisearth. The armor allowed SeitenOh to become unaffected with another of Otoguri's illusion attack and it didn't take long for them to finally defeat the Triske Monster with the twin axes attack called "Land Bison Supreme Evolution". After finally making sure that Otoguri was destroyed, SeitenEarth thanked his sister as inconspicuous as he could and as he looked at the sky, he also thanked Helen in silence.

When the Vessels asked Akira and Natsume about the two more creatures that they fought besides the Gargonemas as soon as they returned to the mansion, they learned that they were groups of stronger foot soldiers of the Tareans mainly called the Amehidai (blue violet-colored) and the Kibarai (moss green-colored). That was when Hideoki concluded that the Seitengers now posed to be a greater threat to the Tareans' ultimate return to rule the world for those creatures to finally appear. Especially now that they had awakened the powers of three Elemental Guides in such a short time, which was something that had never happened even in the distant past. When Helen returned to the mansion, she brought the particular record written in a scroll that she was reading about the other two previous Seitengers who weren't able to awaken their respective Elemental Guides for some heavy reasons. She gave the said scroll record to Akira who soon thank her for it. She was supposed to rest upstairs in her room after that when Itsuki called out to her and there, he apologized for his unreasonable cold treatment since she arrived. When she accepted his apology and was about to turn around to go upstairs to rest, she soon collapsed and lost consciousness that surprised the Vessels and even the two adults. Misae checked on her condition and she was able to discern that Helen exhausted herself too much for some reason and it wasn't just because of her recent late night studies and researches. To their worries, Misae said that Helen had lost a considerable amount of Hasureiki in her body, thus affecting her health, as well.

On one area of the racing stadium, Amuro who was still wearing his racing clothes was just sitting there. But his focus was on a picture he was holding. In that picture, it was the Seitengers pointing their bladeless HyakuReiDers to a certain direction and was about to fire beams towards the enemy. Then he remembered the reason why he was able to get ahold of that picture. With that in mind, he muttered that he was going to look for the Seitengers and perhaps, even though it was a crazy idea, he was going to make them a part of their team.


	10. Vessel 7 (Narrated Episode)

_**This is just the narrated version of the episode. I decided to do this for now just until I could post the full episode which is something that might take some time to write and finish so bear with me for a while, okay?**_

 **Vessel 7: The Well-Kept Trump Card (Narrated Episode)**

 **Part 1**

The Vessels were busy preparing breakfast that morning but Shuichi and Itsuki were nowhere to be seen in the kitchen and even in the dining room. That was because they were the ones taking care of the still unconscious Helen who was still in a long way to recovery for losing that much Hasureiki in her body. Though Itsuki began having questions once again because of what could have happened for Helen to end up like that, he decided to let her tell the truth to them in time. Shuichi told him that Helen might have an even bigger reason as to why she was overworking herself in helping the Vessels these past weeks that she stayed with them in the Mizuhashi mansion. He even assured the composer that the Hasureiki around the area of the mansion was doing its job in restoring Helen's lost Hasureiki even without Misae's healing ability to do the trick. But that didn't ease Itsuki on one other thing that worried him at the moment, which had something to do with the scroll they read along with Akira and Natsume with regards to the other two Seitengers who weren't able to awaken their respective Elemental Guides. But the one thing they found weird was the fact that the record didn't indicate the civilian identities of the previous Seitengers from 25 years ago, only their Seitenger alter egos were written in the scroll.

Unlike the usual morning where the Vessels would train immediately after breakfast and no guests would dare enter the mansion as per Hideoki's instruction, that day was an exception. Raisaki Amuro's arrival at the mansion was a proof of that. Shuichi thought that Amuro would just let them discuss the usual things—-racing and stuff. But to their surprise, the topic was about the Seitengers. What added more to the shock they felt was that Amuro was able to take a photo of the team about to finish off a group of Gargonema using HyakuRei Laser. From what they could remember, it was the time they dealt with Cyone for the second time. It turned out that Amuro was there at the scene and that he nearly became a victim just because he was helping with the evacuation of the citizens at the time. When Erika asked as unsuspecting as she could about the reason why Amuro was showing them that photo, they were shocked once again when he said that he wanted to join the Seitengers.

Back in the Tareus Dimension, the Great Shadow Defenders were enraged that even Orcus' plan to stop the awakening of the third Elemental Guide had failed. They were also curious as to where the pink glow they saw from the footage of the battle could possibly come from. And yet to the others' surprise, Orcus wasn't feeling the same way as they were. In fact, he was just calm about it. When Nemia asked him about it, he said that he only did that to confirm something with regards to the possiblity of another warrior coming to the Seitengers' aid. This was something that they would never thought possible if they were to rely on the old records and even the events from the ancient times. But Nemia agreed on this one possibility since the shinobi also concluded that the current Seitengers were definitely stronger than their predecessors for reasons unexplained.

Shuichi was just listening to Amuro's stories with regards to the latter's desire to become a Seitenger but he fully knew that it won't happen considering the fact that Amuro doesn't possess at least a bit of Hasureiki in his body. Not only that, his friends weren't exactly into the idea of another possible member to join them at the moment. When Itsuki bluntly pointed out that the Vessels couldn't provide them the help that Amuro needed to locate the Seitengers, the racer declared that he would find them himself since he already made a promise. But before any of them could react to that and asked about he promise he was talking about, Amuro left the mansion in a huff. Around the same moment, the Celestial Shifters beeped when it detected another Tarean attack. When they checked, they saw a Triske Monster in the form of a grandfather clock began creating chaos in the town proper. It was then that Helen was finally awakened from her slumber.

 **Part 2**

Much to the Vessels' worries and surprise, the Triske Monster had already hurt a lot of civilians in the area but the authorities couldn't even pass through to retrieve them because of fear for the said monster. With Misae's wind Hasureiki and Erika's light Hasureiki, the two powers combined to create a distraction so that the Vessels could transform into Seitengers without getting noticed and fight the Triske Monster after that in which they soon learned to bear the name Gurakei. Firing laser beams and even summoning their individual weapons to deal with the attacking Gargonemas, the Seitengers created a distraction for the authorities and other civilians to take care of those who were hurt by the monster. It succeeded somehow, but Gurakei attacked the team soon after using its ability to control time and slow everything down for the Seitengers. When the Seitengers looked around as soon as they regrouped, they noticed that the sky seemed to have been dyed in red, as if depicting something even more dangerous and perhaps bloody for the team. They tried to attack Gurakei one by one and even together as a team but none of their attacks seemed to hit the monster, to their surprise.

It turned out, the Seitengers were trapped inside a dome that allowed Gurakei to manipulate the speed of time that put the team into an extreme disadvantage. At least, Helen was able to figure that part out. However, she came too late to do something to prevent her friends from being trapped inside the dome. What she had to do at the moment was to locate the possible root of the dome for it to form and prevent the Seitengers from getting out. Maybe from there, she could figure out a way to do something. But as she was doing it, she soon noticed someone familiar around the area outside the dome trying to defeat the other Gargonemas trying to involve other civilians trying to escape from there. She recognized him as Shuichi's racing rival Raisaki Amuro and couldn't help commenting about the guy's recklessness despite his bravery. Despite still feeling weak because of the help she provided the last time, Helen knew she must do something if she wanted the Seitengers to get out of the situation even if it would be just for the meantime. She took out the Astral Shifter from her pocket and gripped it tight as soon as she made a firm decision on what she had to do.

The Seitengers were definitely in a pinch at that moment when they couldn't even land any of their attacks to Gurakei. SeitenFire, SeitenWater, and SeitenEarth were beaten the worst since it was given that those three were able to awaken their Elemental Guides. However, the dome where they were at somehow prevented them to at least summon their Elemental Guides' powers for them to use. Gurakei was about to throw a machine gun-like finisher attack using the rod it had been holding all this time towards the three male Seitengers whose transformations were now disabled. But SeitenWind and SeitenLight used their bodies as shields to protect their friends. Blocking that consecutive attack had not only disabled their transformations and rendered them unconscious and terribly injured, but had also unleashed a bright light from one of the female Seitengers. However, it was still unknown as to whom it could possibly come from since everything went too fast for them. Not to mention that the intensity of the light was too much for them to notice anything from the moment it was unleashed. Everything seemed hopeless for the still conscious Seitengers, in addition to the rage they felt because of what happened to Misae and Erika. But it immediately stopped when a beam of pink light appeared to have come from the top of the dome and struck Gurakei before it could even fire another finisher attack towards the Seitengers. The beam of light seemed to be powerful enough to weaken the Triske Monster and slightly destroy its rod and the Seitengers noticed that the dome was starting to disappear because of that. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised the Vessels. When they raised their heads to see the situation, a pink warrior was standing in front of them, facing the direction of the Triske Monster. The said warrior faced the Vessels soon after, revealing the helmet having the figure of the six-winged bird acting as its visors and the lotus symbol on both the top of the helmet and the upper chest of the warrior's suit. The warrior was holding a fan-like weapon that seemed to resemble a peacock's tail, only colored in pink. With the spell "Pink Crescent" thrown to both the Triske Monster and one of the dome's "clock roots," the Vessels were able to escape death somehow. But before Shuichi could even ask or even thanked the warrior that saved them, they were suddenly teleported to the garden of the Mizuhashi mansion, much to the two elders' surprise.

None of the Great Shadow Defenders were able to see what happened inside of Gurakei's Time Dome. But Orcus was sure of one thing. The development he had been anticipating had already happened if he were to based it on Gurakei's testimony. But he could feel that something wasn't quite right with the situation, especially with regards to the identity of the possible Vessel Support casting pink-colored Hasureiki that helped the Seitengers. Besides that, he was also concerned with the identity of the pink warrior from Gurakei's testimony as this was the first time he'd heard of it for the past 5,000 years of the Seitengers' history.

 **Part 3**

Even though Helen was just recovering, she still surprised the others when she was able to heal Shuichi, Eichirou, and Itsuki but she had barely did so to Misae and Erika. It seemed that the damage the two girls sustained was too much for Helen to heal with her current powers. Around the same time, Shuichi talked to Helen and advised her not to overdo herself with the help she was giving to the Vessels. But Helen assured that it was okay since it was her job as a Vessel Support. However, Shuichi couldn't help feeling that something was off with the way Helen described herself as a Vessel Support. When he tried to use his ability to discern thoughts and memories through touch, he was perplexed when he wasn't able to see anything from Helen's mind at all, as if something was preventing him from learning anything about her at all.

Shuichi went out that night to think things through at least for a while and to do some strategy thinking before they faced Gurakei again. He was thinking of going to the cliff like he would usually do when he wanted to clear his mind or think. But at the thought of Amuro and his desire to join the Seitengers, Shuichi decided to go to the racing stadium instead. Just as he had initially guessed, Amuro was there. The said racer was driving the car like a madman, but Shuichi could still tell that Amuro was being careful as he drove it. When Amuro was done driving and was somehow satisfied with what he did, that was when Shuichi decided to approach his friend. Amuro admitted that he was hurt when Itsuki bluntly pointed out that Shuichi or any of his friends couldn't help him and he didn't have what it takes to become a Seitenger, which was true in some way. But Itsuki did have a point in that. The racer Vessel gave Itsuki's words a second thought that, perhaps, in some ways, he was mistaken on one part of it. However, he couldn't risk his friend's life in an unpredictable battle the Vessels had with the Tareans. He said his worries to Amuro in a way that he was speaking in behalf of the Seitengers. But Amuro was truly determined to become a part of the team.

Back in the Mizuhashi mansion, Itsuki was rereading the scroll in hopes of finally discovering something that could provide answers to their questions. It was then that Erika finally regained consciousness, much to his relief. Misae followed suit, as Eichirou loudly announced to everyone in the mansion that only made him smile in relief and joy. When Erika asked for the details of the events as soon as she lost consciousness because of Gurakei's attack, Itsuki didn't leave one detail as to how he had witnessed it. As expected, Erika was surprised to know that another Seitenger existed in the modern era aside from the five of them and it was someone who wasn't even written in any records with regards to the 5,000 year history of the Seitengers.

When Shuichi returned to the mansion that same night, he was relieved to see both Misae and Erika finally regained consciousness and seemed to be doing well despite the obvious weakness they were still feeling. When he asked where Helen was, they said that she was probably in the basement of the bookstore doing more research. For some reason, he felt worried for her since Helen was also recovering so he went there to check on her. He did find Helen there, busy looking for something that could tell them about possessing Hasureiki even if it wasn't inherited like those of the Vessel Supports or couldn't be passed on like those of the Vessels. Helen surprised Shuichi that Amuro could possibly become a Seitenger if and only if he would be chosen by any of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians other than the main five that governed the five regions of the Hundred Heavens. That would mean Amuro should possess a certain reason greater than his life that could be used as a driving force for him to become a Seitenger and fight for justice.

 **Part 4**

It was the next day when Gurakei attacked once again. But this time, the scope that the dome encompassed was wider than the last time and the clock roots became invisible for a normal person to see. The number of victims from last time increased that it was indeed frustrating and they were all trapped inside the dome, making it impossible for the authorities to provide help. Helen was able to discern only two out of the possible twelve that she noticed previously but it won't be enough until the Seitengers themselves managed to destroy all of the twelve clock roots to fully destroy the dome. It was around the same time that the Celestial Shifters beeped, giving a foreboding signal to the Vessels on what they had to do.

When the Vessels arrived at the scene, they didn't even have the time to prepare themselves when Gurakei's Time Dome already activated and enclosed the five of them in it. Inside, they did see not only Gurakei but also another Tarean that they had only seen for the first time. Much to their shock, that Tarean introduced himself as one of the seven Great Shadow Defenders, Karkino. The fear they initially felt upon getting enclosed in the dome intensified knowing that they were already facing one of the Great Shadow Defenders. Despite still recovering from their last encounter with Gurakei, they had no choice but to fight their enemies heads on if they wanted to save the civilians trapped and unconscious inside the dome. And so they transformed into Seitengers and fought both Gurakei and Karkino.

Outside of the dome, Kanako, Akira, and Natsume were doing their best to help Helen locate the other clock roots around the dome since destroying those roots would be one of the ways for them to defeat Gurakei. It was then that Amuro noticed all four of them, especially Helen casting her Hasureiki to locate the clock roots. Around the same time, Kanako began suspecting that perhaps it was Helen who had been helping the Seitengers all this time in terms of the energy color of her Hasureiki. None of them (Kanako, Akira, and Natsume) could cast their Hasureiki that way and in fact, they were unaware of what energy color could their Hasureiki possibly had. Amuro tried to convince Helen to help him become a Seitenger, but Akira and Natsume seemed to be against it. However, Kanako had a different opinion about it, especially when she finally noticed the scroll that Helen had been holding all this time. But before any of them could say anything about it, the dome soon disappeared. What shocked the five people outside the dome was the fact that there were many unconscious civilians than before, and also the five Vessels were already struggling to stand up and fight despite their injuries. Helen soon recognized not just Gurakei in the field but also Karkino. Amuro was more shocked than usual when he saw his rival that injured. It was then that he realized why Shuichi and the rest were somewhat adamant on disagreeing about making him a part of the Seitengers. When Amuro saw that Karkino was about to end the lives of the Vessels with a powerful lightning attack, he soon found himself running towards the struggling Vessels and blocked the attack with his own body, shielding his friends from getting killed by it. At the same time, a bright light emanated from Amuro's body and distracted the enemies once again. For some reason, that same light also weakened the two monsters that made Gurakei retreat once again, but not Karkino. It wasn't long before Amuro collapsed from the injuries he sustained that also enraged Shuichi. When Kanako and Helen approached the unconscious Amuro, they were both surprised to learn that Amuro wasn't dead yet, but only extremely weak. Taking out the larger (still unnamed) cylindrical item in her possession, it transformed into a rod with a push of a certain button. Helen tapped one end of it once to the ground and unleashed a pink-colored lotus rune circle beneath her encompassing the five weakened Vessels, the unconscious Amuro, Kanako, Akira, and Natsume. In a matter of seconds, the said people found themselves teleported to the garden of Mizuhashi mansion once again. Shuichi was supposed to go after Helen and go back to the scene of the attack but collapsed and lost consciousness soon after before he could even take a step.

Six people had been unconscious because of that encounter and Hideoki couldn't think of what to do to help the Vessels and even Amuro. Though Akira and Natsume were angry about Amuro's recklessness, Kanako finally voiced out her own opinion about the matter, especially when the scroll that she saw Helen had been holding a while back suddenly appeared just beside her laptop. It was one of the rare records with regards to a certain Vessel Support in the past gaining Hasureiki that wasn't even inherited from the previous Vessels. In fact, that person was able to attain it by gaining the loyalty and trust of one of the minor Heavenly Spirit Guardians under the governance of the Heavenly Wind Spirit Guardian. Amuro had the capability to become a Seitenger if they were to base it on the promise he was talking about before. But he still needed to gain the trust and loyalty of any of the minor Heavenly Spirit Guardians to become a Vessel of its powers and use it to fight the Tareans. So the question was: Could Amuro be able to do that?

 **Part 5**

As for Helen, she was left to deal with Karkino on her own. However, if one would look in her eyes, they were seemed to be lifeless. It was like she turned it dead so that the enemy won't be able to detect something from there that he could use against her. Karkino tried attacking Helen but for some reason, there was a barrier surrounding her that even the lightning attack he cast towards the Seitengers earlier didn't have any effect on her. The rune circle was still beneath her and it was somewhat acting as a trigger for the shield to take effect. The scroll she was holding soon disappeared from her hand and her Astral Shifter appeared in place of it. Soon after, Helen extracted the blades from both the Astral Shifter and the unnamed cylindrical item and poised to a fighting stance—-making her seemed ready to deal with one of the Great Shadow Defenders on her own using those twin blades. But that wasn't Helen's plan at all. When she closed her eyes as soon as Karkino started charging towards her, all she did was utter the words: "Light of dreams, please lend me your powers…". Seconds later, a bright pink light emanated from the rune circle beneath her before she opened her eyes.

Kanako wasn't able to take any footage from where Helen could possibly be at the moment even when she activated her Hasureiki. It was like something was blocking it that frustrated Shuichi. He was able to regain consciousness faster than the rest of the Vessels and the first thing he did was to ask Kanako to locate where Helen was. However, Kanako wasn't able to detect anything at all. When Shuichi went out to the garden where the back gate was, he halted to a stop when he saw Helen lying with her face on the ground unconscious and still holding tightly on the two cylindrical items in her possession. Now another question flashed in Shuichi's mind because of that. What exactly happened back there with Karkino after Helen teleported the Vessels and the others back to the mansion?

As it was all happening, a magical realm appeared in the scene with really beautiful looking mountain ranges, castles and such. Though they were called castles, their structures looked similar to that of a mixture of Japanese pagodas and Muslim mosques. An old man clad in white elegant robe (his face wasn't shown, though) was looking at the events happening on Earth where the Seitengers were fighting Gurakei and Karkino through a large stand-in mirror. But his attention was focused on only two people—-Helen and Amuro. Once the vision on the mirror disappeared, he went out to the balcony and looked over the fields. He took out his flute and soon after, played a melody using it. Not long after, two animal-like entities—-a dragon and a rhinoceros—-appeared before the old man. His only words to those entities were: "It's time to set out." It seemed that the dragon and the rhinoceros understood the words that the old man said. They bowed and gave respect to him before leaving once again.


	11. Vessel 8 (Narrated Episode)

_**This is just the narrated version of the episode. I decided to do this for now just until I could post the full episode which is something that might take some time to write and finish so bear with me for a while, okay? By the way, this came up way too late (I know) because I was busy writing other stories and though I don't want to admit, I think I ended up neglecting this one. So sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you still enjoy reading them.**_

 _ **Thanks a lot for the support!**_

 **Vessel 8: Black Thunder Strike** **s** **! (Narrated Episode)**

 **Part 1**

Though the Tareus Dimension was in an uproar at the news coming from Karkino about a female Vessel Support able to fight the same way as the Seitengers, no one was able to confirm about the identity of the mysterious fighter. Meanwhile, Orcus remained calm about the situation as everything was beginning to make sense to him with regards to the appearance of the possible sixth Seitenger. However, Gurakei sustained an even greater damage than he had anticipated but that doesn't mean that he won't sent him out again to the surface. Gurakei was the only one at the moment who could defeat the Seitengers even without the help from Karkino this time. The only thing he was worried about was that Vessel Support who seemed to have been holding one mystery after another since she appeared to help the Seitengers.

Shuichi could only punch the table where he was watching the footage that Kanako managed to record using a special Hasureiki-powered satellite created by her father. The footage taken was about the time they were teleported to the Mizuhashi mansion and Helen was left to deal with Gurakei and Karkino on her own. He really couldn't stay still knowing that Helen somehow had the ability to do that and it turned out that he was right. He was surprised to see how Helen managed to deal with Karkino with her own Hasureiki that now he was sure was in the level near or even equal to that of the Vessels. Even Kanako commented on the same thing and the footage only confirmed her initial suspicion about Helen's Hasureiki. When Shuichi asked about his friends' current conditions, Kanako said that though they sustained heavy injuries, it would heal soon and the Hasureiki that they lost was starting to restore to their bodies. On that part, Shuichi was sure of it since he could feel it in his body, as well. When he asked about Amuro's situation, it was said that he fell into a coma because of the trauma he suffered from deflecting Karkino's lightning attack with his body. Shuichi didn't say anything about that and instead, he watched the footage once again with his mind still wondering about Helen's condition in which the battle she faced a while back had really made her used up almost all of her Hasureiki and now she was in that unconscious state. After doing that, he asked Kanako a favor about keeping what they concluded with regards to Helen and her true ability a secret to the others just until they found a proof that what they thought of about her was true.

Hideoki was in the guest room where Amuro was resting. Though the Hasureiki around the mansion was helping the young man recover somehow, it seemed that it wasn't enough to awaken him. And that worried the former historian. When Nanami entered the room, he brought the scroll that Kanako had been holding ever since it was teleported to her and had Hideoki read it. When he was done doing so, Hideoki concluded that Helen had possibly helped them uncover a secret with regards to people given a permission to possess Hasureiki even if it wasn't part of their lineage as long as certain rules were to be followed in order to make that happen. However, it only increased the two elders' worries for the Vessels as it was possible that Amuro could be targeted by the Tareans if it turned out that the other biker was really starting to awaken his hidden Hasureiki because of all that had happened to them.

Back in the Tareus Dimension, Gurakei was still trying to recover while Karkino was as vexed as ever, only for a different reason this time. The general confronted Orcus as the scholar appeared to have an idea about the woman he dealt with on the surface. But no words came out from Orcus who only concentrated on providing a greater power to his Triske Monster. Nemia remained silent as she concentrated on putting more gathered human energy to the slumbering emperor. Her expression, however, was something close to amusement as she wanted to know how Orcus' monster would handle the situation now that another potential threat to the Tareans was about to appear.

 **Part 2**

It didn't take long for the other Vessels to finally wake up from their slumber. But the situation only made them feel desperate to end Gurakei's attack on the civilians just to draw them out. Not only that, even Amuro got involved in it. They soon noticed, however, that Shuichi never left Helen's side even while they were thinking of a way to deal with Gurakei-hopefully, for the final time. Despite Misae's attempt to heal the unconscious and severely injured girl, Shuichi decided against it as he was aware that the archer still needed to recover her lost Hasureiki, as well. The biker only told the others not to worry about Helen as they knew how strong she was. However, Itsuki seemed to have a different thought about what was happening to Helen. Weird enough, he decided not to voice it out just yet to the others. Not even to his sister Erika.

Helen was finally awaken from her slumber after long treacherous hours. But then, she didn't expect to find Itsuki in her room at all, so she couldn't help voicing out that thought. The composer didn't mind, though. And it wasn't a surprise to her upon finding out that she was having a hard time moving her own body, except for her head. The immense loss of Hasureiki in her body made her like that. Or at least, that was what Itsuki told her. Helen apologize to Itsuki for causing such trouble once again to the Vessels. But the composer was more concerned about the novelist using too much of her Hasureiki just to aid them, especially now that the Triske Monsters appearing before them were getting stronger. When Itsuki got right into the topic, Helen explained that one of the seven Great Shadow Defenders had finally appeared before the Vessels during that previous fight. That was one reason why she had to use up her Hasureiki in order to help them, especially when it comes to the use of teleportation spells. Along with that, she came up with a plan, but she would be needing Bisearth's help in order to achieve that as it had something to do with illusion.

What they didn't know was that Shuichi had been listening all this time to those two inside the room. Something told him that Helen was about to strain herself once more just to help the Vessels finally finish their fight with Gurakei. To ease his worries, he confided with Hideoki about his approach on dealing with the current situation. Especially now that one of the Great Shadow Defenders had appeared who nearly killed the Vessels and even Amuro. But Hideoki only said that they could only leave it to fate, for them to see if the other racer's actions could possibly open a new door for their journey to end the Tareans' attempts to conquer the world once more. With that, Shuichi decided to check on Amuro's situation.

Itsuki couldn't hide the surprise he felt upon hearing the battle plan that Helen laid out to him. Before he knew it, he was scolding her for being reckless, which was something he had never done before. But to his confusion, Helen smiled at him sadly and told him that her recklessness would be the only way for them to finish off Gurakei. Not to mention, it would take all the Vessels' powers to destroy the clock roots from the inside, which would be an impossible feat without the Elemental Guides' help working on the outside of the dome. That was why she laid out the plan to Itsuki first since his ability to channel Hasureiki through the ground was something that she needed to make it successful. With a sigh, Itsuki considered her participation to the battle. But only if they had Shuichi's permission first. When asked why they should do that, Itsuki only said that Shuichi gave an order not to let her do anything reckless which was something that would require her draining her Hasureiki again. Helen could only pout at that but agreed later on as the composer was giving her a stern look which was quite enough to make her surrender.

 **Part 3**

Upon arriving to the room that Hideoki lent for Amuro to rest on, Shuichi only clenched his fist tight at the sight of his best friend in his injured state. Though he was used seeing Amuro got hurt because of racing-related accidents, this one was a little different. It was a Tarean who did this to his friend and it was something he could never forgive at all. Soon after, Helen also went to that room with Itsuki supporting her as she was still weak from the ordeal they went through. Despite Shuichi's desire to confront Helen about the last activity she did before collapsing, he decided against it. He wanted to let Helen tell them the truth about her so-called mission to the Vessels. The other Vessels gathered in that room not long after to check on Amuro's condition. Helen and Itsuki laid out their plan to take on Gurakei and finally defeat the Triske Monster. But the others' concern was more on the possible arrival of Karkino should that Shadow Defender decided to show up again and take the Vessels head on.

The old man from the last time on that magical realm appeared once again, watching the two mystical creatures continuing to fly (the dragon) and run (the rhinoceros) in the air towards their destination from the mirror. Soon after, he ordered it to show him the bearer of the power of the "other light", which soon showed a vision of Helen alone in her room for a while and appeared to be thinking deeply while holding the larger (still nameless) cylindrical item. After that, a vision of the still unconscious Amuro showed on the mirror's reflection this time. His only words as he did so were, "It won't be long" before playing his flute. Not long after, the vision of the two creatures on his command appeared in the mirror once again. But this time, crackles of lightning surrounded those two before disappearing in a flash.

Though the Vessels could be seen prepared for what would happen as soon as they begin the implementation of their plan to defeat the Triske Monster, their worries for Amuro's state seemed to be taking a toll on Shuichi as time passed by waiting for him to finally regain consciousness. It was evident when the Celestial Shifters reacted as another Tarean attack resumed in the city. As expected, it was Gurakei who started attacking along with Karkino. Helen soon approached the racer and told him to do this so that no other people won't end up like Amuro. She also said that she would be the one to take care of Amuro whatever happens. Shuichi only agreed upon making Helen promise that she won't use any sort of healing ability to Amuro as her Hasureiki hadn't fully returned yet. She was silent for a while, as if contemplating. In the end, she just said that she couldn't do that as it was her job to support the Vessels. And that means she would use her Hasureiki when necessary. The Vessels protested on that (even though Itsuki expected her answer) and was about to scold Helen. But for the time being, Helen said that she would just stay with Amuro and make sure he recovered. It was enough for Shuichi and Itsuki. With that, the Vessels headed to the site of the attack.

 **Part 4**

Helen was clenching her fist as she continued eyeing the still unconscious Amuro. Soon after, a bright light emanated from her Astral Shifter which confused her for a moment. When the light dissipated, the images of a dragon and a rhinoceros appeared before Helen. It didn't take long before she noticed her hand glowing and with the order coming from a mysterious voice of what appeared to be coming from an old man, she placed her hand over Amuro's body and allowed it to do the work she seemed to be needing at the moment. As it was happening, Amuro's consciousness that seemed to have been stuck in the dark place began to become aware of the warm light surrounding the area. When everything started to become bright but still enough for him to see what was going on around him. To his surprise, an old man seemingly glowing and clad in a white robe appeared before him who soon asked one crucial question. It appeared that the old man was named Thunven who was one of the most important residents from a realm called the Hundred Heavens where the Heavenly Spirit Guardians resided. Thunven's question had something to do with his desire to become a Seitenger. Amuro said that it had a relation to the desire that stemmed from his childhood where he lost his mother in a car accident. Soon after, that desire was fueled upon seeing the Seitengers fight for the first time. Especially upon finally realizing that his childhood friend/rival was among the chosen ones to defeat the Tareans. With that, Thunven said to Amuro never to let anything dampen the desire he had in him to protect what was important to him, whether a friend, a family or a chosen path towards the future. After that, a bright light surrounded the area that only made Amuro shut his eyes tight.

As frustrating as it might appear, the Seitengers seemed to be already at the losing end with all five of them still inside the Time Dome. Though the three Elemental Guides and even Helen were helping with implementing their battle plan, it seemed that it wasn't enough to completely destroy all of the twelve clock roots from the outside. Not to mention that the Vessels and also Helen weren't completely healed and rejuvenated since the last time they dealt with the Triske Monster. Gurakei and Karkino were close to landing their finishing attacks towards the Seitengers when all of a sudden, the dome gave a loud cracking sound that surprised them all. Not long after that, the dome's crack that could already be seen from their position widened and from there, three lightning attacks completely destroyed the dome. Before they knew it, they all found themselves freed from the illusions and power-blocking abilities of the Time Dome. Of course, the enemies were frustrated at the sudden event. When they looked around, to the Vessels' surprise, they saw a black warrior with a suit similar to that of the Seitengers. When Shuichi asked who the person was, all the warrior did was to undo his transformation and faced the injured Vessels with a grin and a V sign.

Helen smiled when Amuro finally revealed himself to the Vessels after undoing his transformation like that. Just as she had expected, the two mystical creatures that appeared before her a while back were the Grand Vessel Spirit and the Elemental Guide under the governance of the Heavenly Thunder Spirit Guardian named Thunven respectively. She was right when she thought that finally, they deemed Amuro as someone worthy to become a Vessel of a Heavenly Spirit Guardian's Power. And to think it was the power coming from the Heavenly Thunder Spirit Guardian. But she couldn't marvel at the fact for long upon sensing someone was about to attack her from behind. She was able to avoid it and soon discovered that the one attacking her was none other than Karkino. But Helen didn't faze even at the sight of someone that she then knew was among the Seven Great Shadow Defenders. Instead, she prepared herself to fight the enemy in front of her. But not without apologizing silently to the Vessels, especially Shuichi for breaking her promise.

Despite the surprise that the Vessels originally felt because of this sudden development, they were all glad that Amuro had finally awaken from his slumber. In addition to that, they now gained a new ally who would fight with them. Even though Shuichi was about to strangle Amuro for his reckless act again, the red racer didn't do it. Instead, he just asked him a question: if he would be willing to fight till the end to defeat the Tareans and protect everyone. Amuro answered yes with no hesitation, especially now that he knew his childhood friend and rival had been doing the same thing for quite some time now. With that, all six Vessels transformed in front of Gurakei who was still struggling to regroup itself because the destroyed Time Dome weakened the Triske Monster in a great deal. The battle resumed as the six Seitengers dealt with Gurakei for the last time. SeitenWater and the two female Seitengers were specifically the ones who were dealing with the Triske Monster and the group of Gargonema it summoned while the other three male Seitengers (SeitenFire, SeitenEarth, and SeitenThunder) had a face-off with Karkino who was then struck multiple times by the attack coming from the mysterious pink Seitenger, to their surprise. When SeitenThunder asked SeitenFire if there was a seventh Seitenger that he didn't know about, SeitenEarth said that they weren't aware of it at all, as well. Before they could even comment about that, the Seitengers already decided to end the battle as quickly as they could. And so, for the first time, they were able to perform their finishing attack together as six. Gurakei was destroyed but Karkino barely evaded it, and so the Great Shadow Defender was forced to retreat.

 **Part 5**

However, it didn't take long before Gurakei recovered and unleashed its second persona-its form as an Unseal. Of course, SeitenThunder was surprised that they had to deal with Gurakei in this form. But once again, the vision of the dragon and the rhinoceros appeared to the black warrior. The two mentioned that besides gaining the powers coming from Thunven, he also gained the trust and loyalty of the Grand Vessel Spirit Thunagon and even the Elemental Guide Rhiunder. With that, SeitenThunder was able to acquire both the Vessel Medallion Divine Dragon and the Guardian Medallion Thunder Rhino. Then he used it to summon Thunagon and Rhiunder's physical form and actually combine both mechs to a single fighting robot using the command "Thundering Vessel Combination". That command enabled SeitenThunder to form DraNoRaiJin and board it to be used to fight Gurakei's Unsealed form together with SeitenOh Bisearth. This turned out to be a surprise to the core five Seitengers as they didn't expect SeitenThunder to have both at the same time. Though they decided to deal with that later as they had more pressing matters at hand. Not to mention that they had to deal with Karkino who was now fighting the pink Seitenger all alone and for some reason, both SeitenFire and SeitenEarth couldn't stop the worries that surfaced at that sight. Those thoughts and worries somehow became a driving force for the rest to end their battle with Gurakei once and for all. Well, the battle was two against one and not to mention, the Seitengers were really ticked off with all that they had to deal with that clock monster so they wanted badly to end it. And they did. The two robots combined their attacks once they knew that Gurakei was truly weak to fight them back anymore, combining SeitenOh Bisearth's Land Bison Supreme Evolution attack and DraNoRaiJin's Howling Thunder Breaker attack. It didn't take long before Gurakei finally disappeared for good. Only then that the seven Seitengers could heave out sighs of relief. When the red and green warriors looked around to see the pink Seitenger's situation, they could only frown in both worry and confusion when she was nowhere to be seen.

Teleporting back to her room was already something strenuous for Helen as she wasn't fully healed from the last fight she needed to deal with. But she was glad that Amuro was able to gain the power he desired for him to fight the Tareans and become a reliable comrade to the Vessels. With one straining look at the bandaged part of her right arm now bleeding profusely because of the ordeal, she now concluded that what she said once before to Kanako about the Great Shadow Defenders going to make it hard for the Seitengers had finally come true. She also looked at her Astral Shifter and gripped it tight despite the injury on her arm bleeding. Soon after, she collapsed before she could even reach the bed. It didn't take long before Hideoki decided to check on Helen and to his surprise, he found her unconscious once again and out of her bed. He was able to sense something disturbing about the Hasureiki flowing from her body and could only eye the girl with worries as he put her back to bed.

The Vessels, together with their new teammate Amuro, walked together to finally head home and tell the news to Hideoki and Nanami. Amuro still couldn't believe that he was able to become a Seitenger, and that he was a teammate of his biker rival/best friend Shuichi. Of course, the other racer was glad that they were able to gain a new comrade after all the commotion. But something else was still bothering him. Though the others noticed him spacing out a bit, he only told them not to worry and keep their guard up now that Karkino had made an appearance to them. Amuro and Shuichi decided to walk a little slower and behind the others in order to talk discreetly with regards to the possible identity of the pink Seitenger that they saw and had helped them once again. Shuichi already had his suspicion about the identity of the pink warrior. But Amuro also stated his suspicion, as well. And both of them were surprised that they came up with the same conclusion. Now all they needed was a proof that the possible seventh Seitenger was really _that person_. But they knew it won't be that easy to discover the truth.

Around the same time, a man and a woman, both with certain animal features attached to their bodies, stood by the cliff where Shuichi would always go to calm himself down. The woman with an elephant tail and miniature version of an elephant's ears asked if Helen was alright despite the injuries and power drain she sustained from the previous fight. The man with wolf-like ears and tail, however, only grunted and faced the woman with a troubled look. Upon facing the Tsukikage Town, the man said that the time for another awakening was near. However, he also said that this particular awakening would be something that would set the chosen Vessels' lives in motion.


End file.
